Is an election decided by the voter's choice or by backroom deals?

Minas 247 – The Workers' Party (PT) filed a request this Friday to challenge the candidacy of Mayor Márcio Lacerda (PSB). The representation is actually against the general secretary of the PSD in Minas Gerais and Secretary of State for Metropolitan Management, Alexandre Silveira, extending to Lacerda and his running mate, state deputy Délio Malheiros (PV). The PT's action is a counter-attack to the two requests for disqualification filed by Silveira against Patrus Ananias, the candidate of the PT-PMDB coalition.

While political leaders duel in court, the voter's right to choose is being disregarded. The party squabbles have a character of revenge, of exaggerated ego within the parties. The two legal actions brought by Congressman Alexandre Silveira appear as a response to the stance adopted by the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, national president of the PSD. What the Belo Horizonte voter has to do with this is the big question. The PT's response – whether it has legal grounds will be decided by the Minas Gerais Regional Electoral Court – comes as a kind of "don't mess with someone who's minding their own business." These are the political bosses of Minas Gerais playing a dangerous game of vanity that directly interferes with the voter's power of choice.

What is clearly perceived in the challenges is how the parties are clinging to minute details to try to destabilize the electoral process that is already consolidated in the capital. While the PSD wants to remove Patrus from the campaign because the former mayor did not resign from his position at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), the PT wants Lacerda out because Alexandre Silveira allegedly campaigned for the socialist during the hours he should have been working for the State. In short, they are doing what is popularly said: making a mountain out of a molehill. Even if there is legal support for the challenges, the cause is far disproportionate to the consequence; that is, a legal maneuver by skilled lawyers can change the course of the thinking of thousands of voters.

Brazilian electoral experience shows that it is unlikely that the two favorites in Belo Horizonte will be disqualified. And the parties know this. But what's important in these cases is the impact that the fabricated event generates on the opponent. It's simple arithmetic. In an election that is shaping up to be extremely balanced in the capital, every minute lost is important, and by taking legal action, a coalition can mobilize the entire political apparatus of the opponent. The time lost in justifications, defenses, and defining a new legal battle could be used to listen more to the voters, their desires, and their suggestions.

For now, the leading candidates, Patrus and Lacerda, remain in the shadows, giving simple statements and avoiding confrontation; the anything-goes tactics have been left to their supporters. It remains to be seen how long this will last. Perhaps until the next challenge to their candidacies.