The group of parties supporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s candidacy for the presidential elections in October 2022 may be the most comprehensive in history compared to the previous five times the former president and Workers Party (PT, in Portuguese) member ran for Brazil’s office. With the support of the Solidarity Party, made public during an event Tuesday morning (3), Lula now has seven parties that have declared support for his electoral candidacy.
Up to this moment, Lula has the support of the Workers Party, the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB, in Portuguese) and the Green Party (PV, in Portuguese), which is in a slate together with the Sustainability Network Party (Rede, in Portuguese), the Socialism and Liberty Party and the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB, in Portuguese), to which former governor Geraldo Alckmin is a member; he will be candidate for vice on the presidential ticket. These parties will be united for the next four years through a federation for electoral disputes.
In 1994, Lula’s ticket for the country’s presidency also garnered support from seven parties. At the time, the Popular Brazil Front for Citizenship had the Workers Party, the Brazilian Socialist Party, Socialist People's Party (PPS, in Portuguese, currently Cidadania Party), Green Party, Communist Party of Brazil, Brazilian Communist Party (PCB, in Portuguese) and the Unified Socialist Workers Party (PSTU, in Portuguese). Despite the same number of parties, the articulation built in 2022 is broader as it also brings together non-left wing parties, such as the Solidarity Party.
For the successful candidacies of 2002 and 2006, Lula also brought together the support from center-right parties and right-wing parties. In 2002, he had the Liberal Party and Party of National Mobilization (PMN, in Portuguese). Four years later, he got the support of the Republican Party (PRB, in Portuguese). On both occasions, however, the number of parties was lower than in 2022: five in 2002 and three in 2006.
Remember the support for Lula's candidacy
1989: Brazil popular Front (PT, PSB, PCdoB)
1994: Popular Brazil Front for Citizenship (PT, PSB, PPS, PV, PCdoB, PCB, PSTU)
1998: People's Union to Change Brasil (PT, PDT, PSB, PCdoB, PCB)
2002: Lula for President (PT, PL, PMN, PCdoB, PCB)
2006: People’s Strength (PT, PRB, PCdoB)
2022: Together we go for Brazil (PT, PCdoB, PV, PSB, PSOL, Solidariedade, Rede)
Gleisi Hoffmann wants the Social Democratic Party and the Brazilian Democratic Movement to join
Despite reaching the mark of seven parties supporting Lula’s candidacy, Gleisi Hoffmann, the Workers Party leader and one of Paraná’s federal deputies, said she is working to increase the party’s alliances for the presidential ticket. “We want to grow”, she stated in an interview this Tuesday (3) to Fórum Café.
According to Hoffmann, there are ongoing talks between her party with the Social Democratic Party (PSD, in Portuguese) and the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB, in Portuguese) in order to make Lula’s candidacy “reflect a movement from society". According to her, the Workers Party is analyzing the situation of both parties.
“In the case of the PSD, everything indicates that [Gilberto] Kassab and his party leadership will release its members [to make alliances with any other parties]. Therefore, we will be able to have talks and seek support in every state”, she said. In the case of the MDB, she explained that successive talks are taking place so that the party, which has Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB, Alagoas state) as one of its leaders, joins Lula's campaign.
Overcoming differences
The tone of the statements from Lula and the president of the Solidarity Party, federal deputy Paulo Pereira da Silva, better known as Paulinho da Força, was one of overcoming political differences to defeat Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) in the October elections. Paulinho also said that Lula's candidacy "may be bigger than the Solidarity Party or the Workers Party, and these parties may form an alliance for Brazil".
“We have been wasting time with things such as boos here and there, the International Anthem being sung, labor reform. Forget about labor reform. We win the election and solve it in two months in Congress”, he stated.
The boos have been overcome
The leader of the Solidarity Party was not sure if he would join Lula’s campaign after he was booed by Workers Party militants during an event with unions. The boos weren't either without a reason or new. During the impeachment process of former President Dilma Rousseff, Paulinho da Força voted to oust her. On the occasion, unionists also booed the politician.
However, even before the alliance was made official this Monday, Paulinho da Força said that Lula assured him he would no longer be attacked by the party’s supporters. The pact was reinforced with this week’s event, with the presence of unionists.
The deputy also said that, differently to what some may think, “the election is not won”. “The right-wing groups of the world are better organized here. We are going to face a war from the right of the world against us, with fake news from all sides”, he said.
Call for unity
Lula thanked Paulinho da Força for his support and said he is aware that “this game is a hard one”. The leftist called for uniting forces to “elect a majority of deputies who are committed to my slate proposals”, so that, if elected, he can govern and approve the party’s proposals. "If I'm elected, there must be deputies and senators on our side. That’s how we have to fight to change the country. You know that this is a hard game”.
After that, Alckmin also thanked Paulinho. The vice-presidential pre-candidate also praised the Solidarity Party leader when he said that Paulinho da Força “always fought for workers, for the Unified Health System (SUS, in Portuguese). Count on us, Paulinho. With Lula, with Solidarity, long live Brazil”.
The vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcelo Ramos (PSD, Amazonas state), also attended the event. “Although I may disagree on many of President [sic] Lula's issues, what is in dispute in this election is the right to continue disagreeing. I do not doubt Lula's commitment to democracy, which is all around his life story. An audio recording was illegally made and leaked, and Lula was arrested. Even so, he did not discredit democracy,” said Ramos.
Similarly, federal deputy Marília Arraes (Solidarity Party, Pernambuco state), who sat next to Alckmin, said that Lula “represents a project of society in which elections are less unequal, in which the northeastern [Brazil] does not just feed on the crumbs that fall from the southern and southeastern [Brazil]. Our commitment is not just about this election, in which democracy is threatened. Since my first vote, I have supported President Lula”.
Edited by: Rebeca Cavalcante
