Toucans emerge from the wall.

Rodolfo Borges, from Brasília – The 2014 presidential elections begin this Thursday (March 31st) for the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). The PSDB leader in the Senate, Álvaro Dias, is presenting his party colleagues with a proposal to adopt a primary system to choose their next presidential candidate, a strategy that could change the party's style in the coming years. "It's a democratic system that involves all the members and offers opportunities to everyone who might eventually run, and the candidacy is legitimate," the senator told Brasil 247. Dias doesn't admit it, but the measure would correct the identity and mobilization problems that contributed to José Serra's defeat in the last election. "In the last election we didn't have problems because there was only one candidate. In the next election, in four years, we may have other names. Establishing primaries would be the indispensable preliminary measure, because before talking about names, the method of selection must be discussed. I don't see a more efficient method than this," explains Dias.

The primaries would give the PSDB the opportunity to gauge the profile of opposition that the party's activists desire and, consequently, the will of public opinion. "I don't believe we can adopt a better measure at this moment to unite the party. We would gain by valuing our activists, making them participants in decisions in a democratic way, and above all, we would gain space in public opinion and the encouragement of the press, which would follow our debates," argues Dias.

The senator draws inspiration from the example of the American political system, which propelled Barack Obama to the presidency. “Obama would never have become president if the system hadn't involved primaries, because he wouldn't have been nominated by the party. Hillary Clinton's candidacy was initially favored by the Democrats. And it was during the primary debates that Obama gained ground and ultimately won the nomination,” he recalls.

According to political scientist Leonardo Barreto, the internal change could work in the party's favor in the next election. “The initiative has two positive points. First, it builds the image that the PSDB is a democratic party. This goes against the prevailing image of the PSDB as an elite party,” assesses the researcher from the University of Brasília (UnB). “The second point is that it starts the presidential succession process ahead of time, which can disseminate the names of the candidates within the states and create public engagement even before the campaign begins,” he adds.

The only drawback is the risk of the party emerging fractured from the primaries. "Something like this can only be done if there's certainty that, after the decision is made, the entire party will unite around the chosen name," Barreto points out. Senator Álvaro Dias told Brasil 247 that he has already spoken with some party leaders and that the suggestion was well received. "The primaries, incidentally, were well received when Tasso Jereissati was president (of the party) and suggested them. It didn't happen before because we ended up with only one candidate at the end of the process," he says.