Target of the "clean-up," PR announces support for José Serra in São Paulo.
After refusing the vice-presidential nomination to Haddad, the party, which has been strained with Dilma since the resignations at the Ministry of Transport, has switched sides to the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party).
247 – In 2010, the PR campaigned for President Dilma Rousseff and supported the PT in São Paulo. In 2012, the party threatened to move to the opposition in the Planalto Palace and granted José Serra, of the PSDB, about a minute and a half in the electoral propaganda. Strained from the government since the resignations at the Ministry of Transport last year, the party ignored the vice-presidential position proposed by Fernando Haddad and announced its support for the PSDB in São Paulo. Read more in the Folha article:
Targeted by the purge carried out by President Dilma Rousseff in the Ministry of Transport last year, the PR party yesterday formalized its support for José Serra's (PSDB) candidacy for Mayor of São Paulo in this year's elections.
The alliance represents a significant defeat for the PT, which has not yet secured the support of any party for the candidacy of former Education Minister Fernando Haddad and wanted the PR on its side.
The party's support will give Serra about a minute and a half in the electoral advertising, guaranteeing the PSDB a larger block of time than Haddad, whom Serra sees as his main opponent.
With the support of DEM, PV, PSD, PR, and PP, which will announce its alliance with PSDB next week, the PSDB candidate will have approximately eight minutes of free airtime during the election broadcasts.
In 2010, the PR campaigned for President Dilma Rousseff and supported the PT in São Paulo, electing councilman Antonio Carlos Rodrigues as the alternate senator for Marta Suplicy (PT-SP).
Relations with members of the Workers' Party soured after the party became the main target of the purge promoted by Dilma last year, when the top officials of the Ministry of Transport were dismissed.
Senator Alfredo Nascimento (PR-AM), dismissed from his ministerial post by Dilma, was one of the main proponents of the alliance with Serra in talks with the PSDB.
To negotiate with the party, he enlisted Congressman Valdemar Costa Neto, who is in charge of the PR party in São Paulo and is a defendant in the Mensalão scandal, which is expected to be judged this year.
On the PSDB side, those responsible for the contacts were Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (PSDB-SP), Serra's main strategist, and Mayor Gilberto Kassab (PSD).
Serra and Governor Geraldo Alckmin promised that, if the PSDB candidate wins the election, he will give "space" to the PR party in the municipal administration. Kassab offered a position on the Municipal Court of Accounts to Antonio Carlos Rodrigues in exchange for his support.
Alckmin promised support for PR candidates in the Mogi das Cruzes region, Costa Neto's stronghold, and resources for projects of the party's only state representative in São Paulo, André do Prado.
Support for Serra was formalized in a ceremony lasting less than 30 minutes, attended by Nascimento, Alckmin, and Kassab. Costa Neto did not appear. Alckmin left before the end.
Nascimento denied having allied himself with the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) to penalize the PT (Workers' Party) out of resentment. "I have no resentment," he said. "That's how politics is. Dynamic."
Serra downplayed the negative effects the support could have. "We are forming an alliance with a party, not with individuals," he stated. "If it's prohibited for parties that have members involved in the [mensalão] scandal, the PT wouldn't even be able to compete."
It was up to Congressman Tiririca (PR-SP) to celebrate. "That's politics. We've already learned how it works," he said. He stated that he could go door-to-door campaigning for Serra. "He's already the argument personified, all that's left is to run for the hug."