Jucá to Meirelles: you can't be ashamed of Temer
In an interview with the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, the president of the MDB party, Romero Jucá (RR), said that Henrique Meirelles, the presidential candidate, cannot be ashamed of Michel Temer, and that the focus of the election will not be the president's trial, but rather the actions of his government, as if one thing were different from the other.
247 – In an interview with the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, the president of the MDB party, Romero Jucá (RR), said that Henrique Meirelles, the presidential candidate for the Planalto Palace, cannot be ashamed of Michel Temer, and that the focus of the election will not be the president's trial, but rather the actions of his government, as if one thing were different from the other.
Read excerpts from the interview:
"It will depend on how the campaign goes [whether Meirelles is 'sacrificed']. There are no candidates aiming for hegemony. Alckmin (PSDB), who could have that, can't get past [7% in the polls]. The left is also divided; there's the unknown of who the PT candidate will be and to what extent that name diminishes the other left-wing candidacies. On the other side, there's Bolsonaro (PSL), who isn't attractive to centrist thinking."
(…)
Trying to position the DEM party more advantageously is legitimate, but it doesn't mean the other parties will follow. There was an assessment that a centrist candidate would break the polarization between right and left. That didn't happen. Because the centrist candidates were stagnant, and the polarization continued. I advocate for a radical centrist candidate who polarizes against the extremes. The center cannot compete with old strategies, nor fight amongst themselves. The choice will not be a quiet politician, but someone with grit and clear positions.