Kassab's PSD suffers setback in court.
The Attorney General for Electoral Affairs, Roberto Gurgel, issued an opinion against the party's action to increase its share of public funds and thus increase its television airtime in the October municipal elections.
247 - The PSD (Social Democratic Party), created by the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, suffered a setback in the process of obtaining money from the Party Fund and radio and TV time as if it were a medium-sized party. The party was fighting for the right to funds from the Party Fund proportional to the votes received in the 2010 elections by the politicians in its current caucus.
The decision was made by the Attorney General for Electoral Affairs, Roberto Gurgel.
According to a statement released by DEM, an enemy of PSD, Gurgel refuted the arguments of Kassab's party:
“In an opinion issued today, the 09th, by the Electoral Attorney General, Roberto Gurgel, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) will not be entitled to the share of the party fund or to the TV time proportional to its representation. The Attorney General's opinion did not accept any of the arguments presented by the PSD. The thesis of 'portability of proportional votes' was dismissed by the Attorney General's Office, following the same line, incidentally, as the objections presented by the political parties to the PSD's request. For the Attorney General's Office, 'the [party] representation, for the purpose of the claimed right, is that resulting from the electoral contest in which the political party has regularly participated', which is not the case for the PSD, which has not yet participated in any election for the Chamber of Deputies.”
According to information from Folha, if the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) accepts the PSD's (Social Democratic Party) argument, the party will receive approximately R$ 1,6 million per month and will be entitled to a significant amount of TV time, which will strengthen its ability to forge alliances. However, if it suffers a defeat in court, the PSD will only receive R$ 18,5 per month from the Party Fund and will not be entitled to add TV time to the alliances it forms.
In a statement, the party said that the Attorney General's Office was "conventional" and "did not go further than to address the omission in the legislation regarding the emergence of a new party."