Centrists struggle in polarised Brazil ahead of polls
BRAS LIA: With leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and firebrand rightwing former army officer Jair Bolsonaro leading the polls, there’s a gaping hole in Brazil’s center ahead of presidential elections next year.
On Saturday, one of the country’s most established centrist forces, the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, or PSDB, will take a first step in trying to become the missing piece of that puzzle.
The PSDB convention will choose Sao Paulo state Governor Geraldo Alckmin as its leader, effectively launching him as the party’s candidate for the October 2018 polls.
He’ll have a lot of catching up to do.
Despite having been convicted of corruption and facing a potential jail term, Lula is far ahead with 36 per cent of the latest opinion poll. Bolsonaro, a congressional deputy with a love of provocative anti-gay, pro-dictatorship outbursts, is firmly in second place with 18 per cent.
Faced by that hostile voter landscape, the PSDB’s other big step expected soon is to quit the coalition government headed by the center-right PMDB and scandal-ridden President Michel Temer.
Temer, who took over after the impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff in 2016, is mired in corruption charges and widely disliked for his attempt to push through austerity reforms. With single-digit ratings, he is the most unpopular president on record.
But will breaking from the governmentandnamingAlckmin persuade voters that the PSDB can bring a fresh start?
Betinho Gomes, a PSDB legislator, thinks so.
“The need for a centrist candidate who contrasts with the extreme left and right will promote alliances between several parties and Alckmin will be a key player,” he said.
“This scenario is made for a PSDB victory.” — AFP