'Serra could run for President', says Aécio.
Senator puts PSDB member in awkward position by stating that, even if elected Mayor of São Paulo, he will leave his current mandate to run for office in 2014 if the PSDB considers him the "most viable option".
247 – The rivalry between Senator Aécio Neves and José Serra within the PSDB party is nothing new. Both aspire, or at least aspired, to run for President in 2014 representing the party. However, by yielding to pressure from other members of the PSDB to run for Mayor of São Paulo this year, Serra has begun to deny the possibility in order to distance himself from the image of a "fugitive" from holding office in the capital. In an interview with Folha and UOL, the senator put José Serra in a delicate position by saying that, if he is the "most viable option" for the party in 2014, he could be a presidential candidate even if he is the mayor of São Paulo.
Recently, the senator's name appeared in the Federal Police investigations in Operation Monte Carlo. At the request of Demóstenes Torres, he appointed Cachoeira's cousin in Uberaba. The revelation could disrupt his plans for 2014.
Read more in the Folha article:
Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG) said yesterday that his party colleague José Serra could be the PSDB's presidential candidate in 2014 if he is the party's "most viable option."
Asked if this hypothesis holds true if Serra wins the São Paulo mayoral race, Aécio replied that it does. The politician from Minas Gerais believes that Serra intends to remain in office for four years if he wins in October. But he added: "We are all, in some way, hostages of our circumstances."
In an interview with Folha and UOL, he went further: "Circumstances down the line may demonstrate that he [Serra] is the great alternative for the presidential succession. I don't rule that out categorically and definitively."
Aécio's statement contrasts with Serra's current strategy, which is to try at all costs to bury the discussion about whether or not he will complete his full term as mayor.
In 2004, Serra promised that if he won the race for mayor of São Paulo, he would remain in office for four years. However, he resigned in 2006 to run for—and win—the governorship of São Paulo.
Aécio also intends to present himself as a pre-candidate for president for the PSDB. He advocates for a system of internal primary elections within the party, preferably as early as October 2013 – a year before the 2014 election.
At 52 years old, the senator from Minas Gerais claims to be "prepared" and considers himself "very competitive" to run for president. He says he has "many flaws, but obsession" with becoming a candidate is not among them.
In the interview, Aécio criticized President Dilma Rousseff, giving her a score of 5 out of 10. According to him, the government's popularity stemmed solely from the state of the economy.
When discussing the state of the federal administration, the senator recites several figures from memory regarding investments in areas such as security and health, among others. His strategy is to convey to voters that Brazil can achieve even greater things than it has accomplished so far.
INVESTIGATION
Regarding the Cachoeira CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry), the Minas Gerais native states that the investigation must be transparent to avoid "selective leaks." Regarding the future of Senator Demóstenes Torres (independent-GO), he believes that "the most likely scenario is that he will be impeached."
In the case of PSDB members mentioned in the facts related to the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry), Aécio believes that the governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, must "be investigated" and that federal deputy Carlos Alberto Lereia (PSDB-GO) needs to take a leave of absence from the party to defend himself.