PTB president denies merger with DEM.

Considered a 'certainty' behind the scenes, the supposed merger between DEM and PTB is dismissed by the PTB leader in Bahia, Jonival Lucas; he argues that divergent positions between the parties are the main obstacles; "Here in Bahia we were part of an alliance that elected Governor Rui Costa (PT) and re-elected Dilma. If it were a party that was on the same line, I wouldn't see a problem. But it's an antagonistic party"; he cites as an example of the difficulties the fact that PTB has a minister in the government; "How can the Minister of Industry and Commerce (Armando Monteiro) ally himself with DEM, which is a party against the president?"

March 13, 2015, 13:53 PMUpdated May 27, 2019, 10:55 AM

Considered a 'certainty' behind the scenes, the supposed merger between DEM and PTB is dismissed by the PTB leader in Bahia, Jonival Lucas; he argues that divergent positions between the parties are the main obstacles; "Here in Bahia we were part of an alliance that elected Governor Rui Costa (PT) and re-elected Dilma. If it were a party that was on the same line, I wouldn't see a problem. But it's an antagonistic party"; he cites as an example of the difficulties the fact that PTB has a minister in the government; "How can the Minister of Industry and Commerce (Armando Monteiro) ally himself with DEM, which is a party against the president?" (Photo: Romulo Faro)

Bahia 247 - Although considered a "certainty" behind the scenes and in newspapers and blogs, the supposed merger between DEM and PTB is dismissed by the PTB leader in Bahia, Jonival Lucas. According to him, there have been no talks in this regard so far, and leaders such as federal deputy Antônio Brito have expressed concern about the issue, in addition to showing themselves to be against the rapprochement. "As president of the party, I don't understand where the advantage lies," Jonival told the Bahia Notícias website.

Benito Gama, who is also a federal deputy for the PTB party in Bahia, assures that there is indeed "advanced" coordination underway.

For Jonival, the divergent positions of DEM and PTB are the main obstacles to a potential merger. "Here in Bahia, we were part of an alliance that elected Governor Rui Costa (PT) and re-elected Dilma. If it were a party that was on the same page, I wouldn't see a problem. But it's an antagonistic party," says the president of PTB.

Jonival cites as an example of the difficulties of this rapprochement the fact that the PTB has a minister in President Dilma Rousseff's government. "How can the Minister of Industry and Commerce (Armando Monteiro, from Pernambuco) ally himself with the DEM, which is a party opposed to the president? It's a complicated situation, and no one knows what will happen."