Only Roberto Freire wants Serra.
Just as Dracula – in Bram Stoker's novel – has a servant who walks in daylight named Renfield, the "neighborhood vampire" also seems to have his own.
José Serra is going to leave the PSDB. At least that's what the murky news from behind the scenes of the party suggests. Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Aécio Neves, through columns in Estadão newspaper, are reportedly sending messages to the "neighborhood vampire." In general terms: "If you don't like it, the door is right there."
Serra has been saying he wanted the presidency of the PSDB to support Aécio. Alberto Goldman, a member of the PSDB from Serra's faction, stated that a good position within the PSDB for Serra would be "vital" for the campaigns of Aécio and Geraldo Alckmin in São Paulo. Since where Serra is involved there's also low-level politics, if Serra is ousted, we'll have dossiers and denunciations of the PSDB's escapades in the states of the "coffee with milk" republic.
Would Serra release more documents from the Furnas List? And what about the favela fires in São Paulo? All the burned areas are of interest to the real estate market. Another question that, even before it took root in the minds of those who follow the political scene, was whether Serra would be left alone on the sidelines.
Just as Dracula – in Bram Stoker's novel – has a servant who walks in broad daylight named Renfield, the "neighborhood vampire" also seems to have his own. Roberto Freire has already offered his Popular Socialist Party (PPS) – or would it be Serra's Parallel Party? Freire is the symbol of political decadence. From communist to Serra's lackey. He even had to leave Pernambuco, otherwise he would be out of office.
In any case, what can be said for sure is that Serra is hurt and cornered. A cornered beast becomes aggressive. An aggressive Serra is – without tiring of repeating – synonymous with vulgarity. We also know that Folha de S. Paulo is playing Serra's game. It doesn't want the opposition to be represented by someone who didn't have the "divine privilege" of being born on São Paulo soil and by the quality of journalism done at the flagship newspaper of the Folha Group.
If FHC and Aécio are truly tired of José Serra and are maneuvering to either force him out of the party or back into the grave, we can expect "shots" flying in all directions. The opposition in Brazil is in a sad state of affairs, caught in the plot of a horror movie. Beware of the bites.