Sustainability Network and the threat of electoral opportunism
Expediting the processing of projects submitted last year, at breakneck speed, in order to hinder the creation of new political parties, is a clear retaliation against the efforts of activists in the movement linked to Marina Silva.
After enduring a difficult period of restriction on individual rights and guarantees, marked by the extinction of political parties, Brazil has been experiencing, since the end of the military regime in 1985, a process of political opening and consolidation of republican values. Over the last 28 years, the democratic regime and the party system of our country have undergone significant evolution; we have moved from a situation of repression towards a full democracy, which points towards multi-party politics and the expansion of popular participation.
Therefore, strengthening democracy is a fundamental principle that we will not compromise on. It is both strange and repulsive to see the movement in the Chamber of Deputies to modify electoral legislation and hinder the implementation of the Rede Sustentabilidade Party, led by former senator and former presidential candidate Marina Silva. Expediting the processing of projects presented last year, hastily, with the intention of obstructing new political parties, is a clear retaliation against the efforts of the activists of the movement linked to Marina Silva.
It would be an intolerable opportunism to change the rules of the game at this moment, seeking, for example, to increase the number of signatures required to create a political party, or to ensure that parties emerging from now on and receiving parliamentarians upon their creation do not have access to television time or even to resources from the party fund.
Today, the legal requirement to form a party is the signature of 0,5% of voters who cast valid votes in the last elections for the Chamber of Deputies. Changing this percentage hastily and opportunistically would be a mistake. This potential maneuver by hegemonic parties with the deliberate intention of stifling new leadership goes against the grain of history and represents an unacceptable setback for all those who, like us in the Brazilian Socialist Party, fight for the consolidation of Brazilian democracy. Moreover, historically the PSB has also been a victim of groups interested in maintaining the status quo, who have tried to prevent the emergence of new forces in the political arena.
Back when we had already overcome the electoral threshold, we joined forces with parties that challenged the use of this mechanism in the Supreme Federal Court, and it was overturned by the STF. The Court considered the electoral threshold unconstitutional, understanding that it violated the constitutional principle of free party organization. Similarly, when, under the leadership of Mayor Gilberto Kassab, some parties filed a direct action of unconstitutionality against the formation of the PSD, we stood in solidarity with the creation of that party, maintaining consistency with our trajectory in favor of free party organization and a profound political reform that puts an end to "appropriate laws".
Since the PSD, which emerged with 50 deputies, has already secured the right to a portion of television time and party funds, we advocate that the same criteria be adopted for parties that are created, at least within this pre-election period culminating in the 2014 election. Otherwise, we will be committing a great injustice, voting on legislation to impede the free exercise of party creation or even to make a presidential candidacy unfeasible.
I disagree with any kind of preferential treatment. In these times, the pressing need is precisely to increase the participation of all actors in the democratic process, whether political parties or voters. There are no plausible reasons to restrict the actions of anyone. Each agent in this process should enter the scene on equal terms, regardless of which side they are on.