Eduardo's discourse is becoming increasingly nationalistic.
With the official plan to monitor the performance of the more than 400 mayors elected under the party's banner, the governor of Pernambuco and president of the PSB, Eduardo Campos, highlighted the João Mangabeira Foundation's role in conducting a series of regional events throughout the country starting in April, to give visibility to the socialist management model; "The most important thing is to fulfill the commitments made to the population," he said.
Paulo Emílio _PE247 - The year has barely begun and the PSB (Brazilian Socialist Party) continues to make strong moves towards the 2014 elections. With the official purpose of monitoring the performance of the more than 400 mayors elected under its banner, the João Mangabeira Foundation will hold a series of regional events throughout the country starting in April. While this is the official reason, behind the scenes it is rumored that the objective is to optimize socialist administrations and identify successful cases to serve as examples of the PSB's management model and capacity, strengthening the name of the governor of Pernambuco and president of the party, Eduardo Campos, for a possible presidential run in 2014.
“The Foundation will be sending expert technicians to gather feedback from those who have taken on and are facing challenges that we hadn't foreseen. Also, to identify experiences that can serve as references. I met with the Foundation's management and they will be touring Brazil,” said Campos. According to him, the “successful experiences” involve a wide variety of administrations, without any partisan bias.
Although the official discourse is that the PSB remains firmly aligned with President Dilma Rousseff (PT), Campos's moves towards running for the presidency in 2013 have been emitting increasingly frequent signals. His latest statements focused on matters of national interest, such as building a new federal pact, greater autonomy for states and municipalities, and the deregulation of federal revenues; this time, however, the focus is on popular participation, a subject dear to the PT.
“The most important thing is to fulfill the commitments made to the population. To involve the people in governance, to be transparent, to move away from traditional practices, to innovate in public management, and to value efficient management in which the people control public resources,” he said. “You can be managing well in the wrong direction. It's about managing well in the right direction. Overcoming patrimonialism, betting on social control and popular participation,” he added.
With an increasingly comprehensive discourse and a clear national focus, Campos has been able to expand his reach as a possible political alternative for 2014. But if the initial focus is on municipal administrations, it remains to be seen what the reaction will be from parties like the PT and PMDB, with which the PSB is allied at the federal level, who do not look favorably upon the steps taken by the socialist towards the 2014 elections.