Freire defends Marina and rules out being her running mate.
The president of the PPS party advocated for former senator Marina Silva to head the PSB ticket, a position previously held by Eduardo Campos (PSB); the congressman, whose name has been mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate should the former senator lead the socialist candidacy, denied having any interest in the position; "I have no such interest. Because, mainly, I think anything that would bring further complications to a smoother process is something we shouldn't do," he said.
Pernambuco 247 - Federal deputy and president of the PPS, Roberto Freire, defended that former senator Marina Silva should head the PSB ticket, a position that was held by the former governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos (PSB), who died in a plane crash that occurred this Wednesday (13), in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo. Marina's name, who was vice-president on the socialist ticket, faces strong internal resistance within the PSB itself. Freire, whose name is being considered to assume the vice-presidential position should the environmentalist head the socialist candidacy, denied having any interest in the position.
"I have received speculation in that regard (assuming the vice-presidential position) and I say that it hasn't crossed my mind. I have no such interest. Because, above all, I think anything that brings more complication to a smoother process, we shouldn't do," Freire said in an interview with Rádio JC News, this Friday (15). "If we put too much pressure on ourselves, we can create problems with something that, although important, is not the main thing at this moment," he added.
The parliamentarian emphasized that Marina will have a tough job ahead of her in maintaining unity within the coalition, something that was Campos' direct responsibility. Freire acknowledges that Marina's situation within the PSB is "different," but that both the socialists and the other allied parties should take into account the fact that Marina is capable of continuing the project of reaching the Presidency of the Republic.
"Marina's situation is different, especially since she's in the PSB because of the difficulty of being within her own party. Campos' candidacy was fundamental to correcting the course and defeating the current government. Marina continues this objective. We must have no doubt that we need a competitive candidate for the second round and to defeat Dilma," he stated.
"Of course, all of this creates problems. It's not simple to imagine that just putting someone in charge will solve everything. But we have a vice president who can almost naturally take responsibility for a program she was integrated into, even if there might be disagreements here and there. But we have to understand that Eduardo was irreplaceable, and now we have to replace him with someone at least minimally capable," he said.
"She will have to largely represent what Eduardo Vinha was doing to maintain unity," he added, referring to Marina's reluctance to form alliances with the PSDB in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Paraná, and against the PT in Rio de Janeiro, for example. "We need to have a precise understanding of how to face this difficulty," the congressman emphasized.
"We are not meeting to decide who our candidate will be. We already did that a long time ago. Our candidate was Eduardo. What remains for us now is to maintain this unity and determine who can best continue the project that Eduardo was representing for the country," he emphasized.