Cabral becomes a bargaining chip in the PMDB-PT alliance.

247 - Governor Sergio Cabral is willing to give up running for Senate in order to maintain the alliance between the PMDB and PT parties in the Rio de Janeiro election.

The condition would be that the PT (Workers' Party) would not nominate Senator Lindbergh Farias to run for the position and would maintain the agreement to nominate the candidate for vice-governor.

"There's plenty of room (for negotiation), we just won't give up on Pezão's candidacy, as he is the most solid and best-prepared candidate," said the president of the PDB in Rio de Janeiro, Jorge Picciani.

Below is text distributed by Reuters:

PMDB says it will give up on Cabral for Senate in Rio de Janeiro, but maintain Pezão's candidacy.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The PMDB party in Rio de Janeiro is considering abandoning the candidacy of the current state governor, Sérgio Cabral, for the Senate this year in an attempt to convince the PT party to maintain the alliance between the two parties in the state, but maintains its position of launching Cabral's vice-governor, Luiz Fernando Pezão, as a candidate for governor of Rio de Janeiro.

The alliance between members of the Workers' Party (PT) and the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) in Rio de Janeiro helped elect former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and also contributed to the election of President Dilma Rousseff in 2010.

The renewal of the alliance in the state, however, has been called into question since, while the PMDB insists on launching Pezão as Cabral's successor, the PT senator Lindbergh Farias has also positioned himself as a candidate.

The signaling of Cabral's withdrawal from the race for a Senate seat aims to end the dispute that jeopardizes the alliance, while simultaneously securing Pezão's position as the gubernatorial candidate in a potential coalition between the two parties.

"Pezão's candidacy is set, and Governor Cabral has stated internally that the priority is to win the gubernatorial election and maintain the PT-PMDB partnership. He is open to the possibility (of not running for Senate)," declared the regional president of the PMDB, Jorge Picciani.

The national and local leadership of the PMDB party met at the Rio de Janeiro state government headquarters this Monday, with the presence of the Vice President of the Republic, Michel Temer, the party's national president, Senator Valdir Raupp (RO), Cabral, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, among others.

"The party wants Sérgio (Cabral) as a candidate for the Senate, but that will not be an impediment to an alliance with the PT," Picciani told reporters after the meeting.

The party is not giving up on Pezão's candidacy, even though he appears in the polls behind other pre-candidates, such as Lindbergh, the Minister of Fisheries, Marcelo Crivella (PRB), and federal deputy Anthony Garotinho (PR).

"There's a lot of room (for negotiation), the only thing we won't give up on is Pezão's candidacy. There's no chance of removing it. He is the most solid and prepared candidate... we are certain that we will form an alliance with the PT supporting Pezão and maintaining the national alliance," Picciani emphasized.

Majority in the House and Senate

Raupp said that the PMDB intends to launch 18 to 20 candidates for state governorships in this year's election, including in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Rio Grande do Sul.

The PMDB leader said he expects the party to win the elections scheduled for October and stated that the party's objective is to maintain the largest bloc in the Senate and surpass the PT as the largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies.

"We want to have 18 to 20 candidates at the top of the ticket (for governor), electing a majority. We will return with the largest bloc in the Senate and we will try for the largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies," said Raupp.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier)