Ciro doesn't believe Regina's selection was intended to keep the PT in power in 2022.

By Paulo Pincel, in Piauí Hoje - The latest events that have shaken the political scene in Piauí were analyzed during an interview with the national president of Progressistas, Senator Ciro Nogueira, on Jornal do Piauí (TV Cidade Verde), in the early afternoon of Monday (23). In addition to the nomination of Marcelo Castro as running mate for the Senate, Ciro also commented on the presence of Senator Regina Sousa on the major ticket, after being nominated by Wellington Dias as pre-candidate for vice-governor. The senator also spoke about the candidacy of Dr. Pessoa (Solidariedade) for governor.

“I have always argued that we needed another candidate, a more competitive name. Marcelo is a very hardworking politician, I identify with him, I trust him. What needs to happen now is trust from the parties that the two will work together. The chance of victory will be very high if there is this union because we have a very strong, very consolidated political base. If you do a survey among the mayors, more than 100 mayors are waiting for my decision on who to support in the second round of voting, so it's a very large political force,” he assessed.

MDB

The senator promised to work for Marcelo Castro's election because of the confidence he has in the federal deputy from the MDB party. “He will certainly have my work, my effort; he has everything to be a great senator to help me in Brasília so that things happen in our state, which is our biggest challenge. I have total confidence that Marcelo can be a great senator. I believe that public figures have a survival instinct; I don't believe that someone from the MDB, who needs my support for Marcelo, even more so than the other way around, would work against my candidacy, just as the PT needs the support of the Progressistas party, the largest party in the state, for the election of Governor Wellington Dias, just as I need the PT.”

Opposition

Ciro Nogueira said he doesn't believe that PT militants or members of other parties in the coalition would vote for opposition candidates. "I don't believe anyone from the PT will vote for Wilson or Robert, who are from the opposition, for example. The natural thing is to vote for allies or to spoil their ballot; that's also an option. But with time, with the defense we're going to make of the governor, and of Lula if he becomes a candidate, this will end up consolidating a spirit within the coalition where we all work together to win the elections."

Medical Counsel

The interviewee also spoke about the “advice” he gave to Governor Wellington Dias to end the controversy over the vice-governor position. “One of the pieces of advice I gave Wellington when I announced I was giving up on this vice-governor issue, that the Progressistas party was going to relinquish it, was: 'Wellington, do you want to end this mess? Announce that you're going to stay until the end of the government, end this dispute. I think you'll complete the cycle of four governments in our state, consolidate your project, and we'll end this discussion.' I think that was ideal.”

Eye on 2022

Ciro Nogueira doesn't believe that the nomination of Senator Regina Sousa as the vice-governor candidate in 2018 is a strategy by the PT (Workers' Party) to prevent another party from taking over the government in 2022, with Wellington Dias leaving to run for the Senate. “I hope Wellington isn't thinking about 2022 with this action; that he's thinking about choosing the best vice-governor for his administration, so that he can succeed as governor… He [Wellington] said it's an option, but that's his decision, I don't want to put words in his mouth.”

Dr. Pessoa

According to Ciro, state representative Dr. Pessoa is a competitive candidate, especially considering the large number of votes he received for mayor of Teresina. “This change is surprising because he was already a pre-candidate for the Senate and now he's running for governor. I think that, like any candidate, he has to be respected, but the population will eventually want to know what he will do, what his government plan is, what he will do for education, health, infrastructure. He can't just come here on television and say that he's among the people, that he wants to be close to the people. That's an important discourse; we have to be close to the population, but the population needs to know what the person will do, if he has the conditions and capacity to manage, if he can demonstrate that he will be a great governor.”

Style

The senator took a jab at some opposing candidates, whom he considers "demagogues" for pretending to be what they are not. "I don't have that style of wanting to be a demagogue, of wanting to pretend to be what I'm not; my style is to work for Piauí, to show what I've done and what I'm going to do. That I'm not going to change," he asserted.