The new party is a delicacy in the Workers' Party's nest.

Can you believe that someone would propose forming a new party by recruiting dead people to fill its ranks or forging signatures to inflate its lists?

The question dominated national news for many days in the period leading up to the formation of Gilberto Kassab's PSD party. And the media, without questioning anything, shoved the information down the throats of its audience, leading public opinion to believe that, in their eagerness to form the new party, the allies of the mayor of São Paulo had entered into a kind of anything-goes scenario, as if they were completely at ease, without the press, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the justice system, or adversaries spying on their every move.

He didn't see that such episodes were the visible face of a war. Kassab wanted to create a party to move away from the opposition and get closer to the government with moves tinged with political legitimacy, while the opposition, increasingly dwindling and withering away with each passing day as the Workers' Party era in power persists, tried everything to undermine the mayor's ambitions.

Obviously, there was a lack of journalism, good journalism. Kassab's party annihilated the DEM in states like Santa Catarina, won 42 federal and state deputies and senators from the PSDB and PMDB, and became the fourth largest party in the Chamber. It's blatantly obvious that this caused discomfort. Since one can't swallow the story of the dead and other ghosts without chewing, three possible hypotheses remain for the case.

1 - Kassab's allies were so deranged that they didn't even care who was dead or alive.

2 – In their eagerness to speed up the process, some of Kassab's allies hired people to collect signatures, and the person hired pretended to be working on fabricating lists with dead people and forged signatures.

3 – Someone from the group of those who were bothered set Kassab up, paying someone to forge signatures and enlist dead people in order to create future problems.

Whatever the outcome, it would make a good story.

PRAGMATIC EXODUS

Kassab's party's idea was to merge with the PSB later on, a project that was promptly discarded. In a few days, it gained a strength it hadn't imagined. The creation became bigger than its creator (the PSB has 35 federal deputies, the PSD was born with 42, but considered having up to 57), fueled by a seductive pragmatic (rather than programmatic) line, the same one adopted by all the others: the comfort of power, legitimate when won at the ballot box, ethically questionable when the entrance is through the side door.

In Bahia, the PSD suddenly became the second largest party in the Assembly, with 11 state deputies. Three came from the PMDB, two from the DEM, two from the PSC, two from the PTdoB, one from the PRP, and one from the PP, in addition to three federal deputies, two from the DEM and one from the PDT. Not surprisingly, ACM Neto, from the DEM, and Geddel, from the PMDB, launched their attacks against the PSD.

With the exception of a few cases, such as state representatives Gildásio Penedo, from DEM, who is the nephew of Vice-Governor Otto Alencar, and Angelo Coronel, from PP, an unconditional ally, plus federal representative José Carlos Araújo, from PDT, the others were chosen for the sake of being closer to Wagner. And Wagner himself admitted that he liked the move: 'It's natural that they want to support the government'.

In fact, a pithy phrase circulates freely in the political world. In politics, for those in power, four years is a flash in the pan. For those in the opposition, it's an eternity. Serra's defeat in 2010 shattered the last hopes of the opposition, still nostalgic for the times of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, of regaining power after eight long years away from it.

There was pent-up demand, especially from restless members of the PSDB and Democrats. Switching to existing parties without plausible reasons would mean losing their mandates due to disloyalty. Since the law allows switching parties to found a new one, the rush was widespread, much greater than Kassab had imagined (hence his disdain for the idea of ​​a merger).

Bahian Strategy

The PSD fell like a delicacy into the PT's nest, both for Dilma, who expanded her support base in Congress, and for Wagner. The governor didn't so much need new allies, but he desperately needed to trim the claws of some of his own. It crowned a strategy.

In 2009, when Geddel broke with the government, Wagner gave free rein to the PP of Mário Negromonte and João Leão, a duo that, in 2006, had supported Paulo Souto. It was compensation. The new party created jealousy and distrust. Segments of the PT raised the alarm. 'It is necessary to trim the Lion's claws,' said the PT deputy Marcelino Galo, referring to João Leão, then Secretary of Infrastructure (today, in the Civil House of the City Hall).

Now, in 2006, after Wagner's victory, there was an intense exodus of former Carlists towards the PMDB. They weren't looking for Geddel, but rather the possible way to get close to Wagner, those who felt powerless after Paulo Souto's unexpected defeat. The PMDB swelled, in 2008 managing to elect 114 mayors, and this boosted Geddel's morale, who felt emboldened to break with and challenge Wagner in 2010.

Otto Alencar entered the scene to provide a new counterpoint to Negromonte and Leão. As soon as he took over the Infrastructure Secretariat in January, he 'cleaned house' in the environment previously occupied by the PP. He fired everyone. Politically, he created the PSD.

The mix of support for the Bahia state government, which included the new party, became more fragmented. The PT (Workers' Party) has 14 representatives, the PSD (Social Democratic Party) has 11, and then a handful of groups, with the PP (Progressive Party) as the third largest, with five, in addition to others not officially aligned, but in fact, yes, totaling 44, a power never before accumulated by the government.

Note that Wagner has already admitted: in 2014, he intends to run for federal deputy. In other words: he opens up the Senate seat for future alliances, plus the vice-presidential candidate. But the head of the ticket will be from the PT (Workers' Party).

Going back to the beginning, what about the dead from the PSD? They still show signs of being unburied in the justice system, which has decided to look at the situation on a case-by-case basis. But at this point, they are just ghosts.