Nunes uses restriction imposed on Bolsonaro to isolate former president in choosing vice president

The campaign for the re-election of the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), will take advantage of the restriction imposed by the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes on Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to open new negotiations on the vice-president and isolate the appointment of the former president.

The target of a Federal Police operation investigating an attempted coup in the country, Bolsonaro was banned by Moraes from talking to others mentioned in the investigation, such as the president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, and general Braga Netto.

The PL's situation became complicated because, during a search and seizure operation by the Federal Police, this Thursday, the 8th, Valdemar was arrested in the act for illegal possession of a weapon. The PF also found a gold nugget with him that originated from mining and had an estimated value of R$12,000. The PL president had already been arrested in 2013, convicted in the Mensalão case.

Valdemar leads the party with an iron fist and is the one who takes care of municipal alliances. The PL's goal is to elect a thousand mayors this year to create a stronger federal bench in 2026.

Until now, Bolsonaro has conditioned his support for Nunes on the nomination of his vice-president. Before being the target of a search and seizure by the PF, the former president chose the retired colonel of the São Paulo Military Police Ricardo Mello Araújo to work alongside Nunes.

Araújo commanded Rota and the nomination was made taking into account that security is one of the voters' main concerns. Despite pressure from Bolsonaro, the mayor said that no decision has been made regarding the vice position.

“We have a broad front and we need to see with the other parties the other names that are put forward”, stated Nunes, in reference to ten parties that currently support him, such as the PP, the PSD and the Republicans. All of these parties are part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's base in Congress.

The strategy outlined by the mayor to counter the attempt by the PSOL candidate, Guilherme Boulos, to nationalize the dispute – as if it were a third round between Lula and Bolsonaro – is to show that the “broad front” is on his side. The expression was used by the PT campaign in 2022.

Plan is to maintain 'regulatory distance'

O Estadão found that neither Nunes nor her allies liked the vice-president appointed by Bolsonaro and the idea is to look for another name, in the wake of the crisis affecting the former president.

The vice issue gained prominence after former mayor Marta Suplicy left the Municipal Secretariat for International Relations and returned to the PT to join Boulos' ticket.

In practice, Nunes' team wants to maintain a “regulatory distance” from the former president, but it depends on the PL. Even before the Federal Police took steps, however, a series of surveys held by City Hall showed that, when Bolsonaro appeared alongside Nunes, he took two votes from him and gave only one.

Even so, the mayor needs the votes of the former president's voters, in addition to the support of the PL. Having created the largest group of federal deputies in 2022, the party has as its endowment the largest share of resources from the electoral fund and the largest amount of TV time during free electoral hours.

Investigations threaten PL’s survival

Now, however, the result of investigations into planning for a coup in the country threatens not only to put Bolsonaro in prison but also the survival of the PL itself.

Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) asked the Attorney General's Office to investigate whether Bolsonaro's PL used party resources to finance the abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law in the country.

“The facts of this Federal Police operation are extremely serious,” argued Costa. “The revelations show that there was a proposal to arrest two ministers of the Supreme Court and the president of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco. This would characterize the establishment of a dictatorship. It is unacceptable that a party that participates in the democratic game mobilizes to end democracy in Brazil”, he amended.

For deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ), second vice-president of the Chamber, the party faces “relentless persecution” from the Lula government, the PT and minister Alexandre de Moraes. “Dictatorship is what they want to do. They want to end the only opposition party in Brazil to implement the dictatorship of the left, allied with the Federal Supreme Court”, said Sóstenes.