We can almost double the number of members after absorbing PSC and ends the year with 796.4 thousand

The Podemos party almost doubled in size after incorporating the Christian Social Party (PSC) and ended the year 2023 with 796.4 thousand supporters, in 9th position in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) ranking of parties by number of members.

Before the incorporation, authorized by the TSE in June last year, the two parties occupied 13th (Podemos) and 14th positions (PSC), with just over 402 thousand members each. Soon after absorbing the PSC, in July, Podemos had 803.7 thousand.

The PSC was unable to reach the minimum number of votes necessary to overcome the barrier clause, a mechanism that determines that each party must reach a minimum of 2% in the total number of valid votes for the Chamber of Deputies at national level or elect 11 federal deputies to power access the party fund and free election hours on radio and TV. The extinct party elected six deputies and one senator in the last elections.

With the TSE's decision, the votes destined for the PSC will now be computed by Podemos, which increases the party's access to the share of the party fund.

The “new” Podemos now has 18 parliamentarians elected to the Chamber, and seven to the Senate. The only senator elected by the PSC, Cleitinho (Republicanos-MG), switched parties at the end of 2022.

According to the Political Parties Law, incorporations and mergers can occur freely, as long as they respect “national sovereignty, the democratic regime, multi-party system and the fundamental rights of the human person”.

While the merger transforms two existing parties into a new one, as in the case of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB) with Patriota, which created the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), in the merger one of the parties is absorbed by the other.