by John Fitzpatrick

Winning the mayoral race in São Paulo must have been some compensation for the PSDB´s Jose Serra, who lost the last presidential contest to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party (PT). It was also a great victory for the PSDB, which also holds the state governorship, and puts the party in a strong position for the presidential election in two years´ time.

The defeat of the PT candidate, Marta Suplicy, was also a boost to Brazilian democracy since the PT campaign was marked by duplicity, scare tactics and arrogance. The voters rejected Suplicy by a wide margin of almost 10% and let the PT know that it cannot take them for granted. The PT would be wise to bear this in mind in the run-up to the next presidential and state governor elections in two years´ time. 

The picture was the same elsewhere, with the PSDB winning another four state capitals – Curitiba, Florianopolis, Teresina and Cuiba. This performance offset the PT´s impressive wins in the first round of the municipal elections on October 3 when the PT won six state capitals outright and the PSDB won none. The parties are now almost equal, with the PT controlling 11 major cities and the PSDB nine. Of the other main parties, only the catch-all PMDB and leftist PDT come close with six and five cities respectively. The center-right, PFL, lost its stronghold in Salvador and controls no state capital.

This shows that Brazil appears to be heading towards becoming a country with two main national parties. When the campaigning for the next presidential election starts, both the PT and PSDB will try to create the strongest alliances with the other groups and parties.      

Despite losing São Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre, the PT won important smaller towns and cities like Osasco, Santo André and Diadema in São Paulo state, Cariacica in Espirito Santo  and Contagem in Minas Gerais. These results show that voters are generally still ready to trust the PT and cannot be seen as any kind of plebiscite on the federal government. The contests were generally run on local issues. When President Lula interfered in the São Paulo race by praising Suplicy´s administration he ended up becoming embroiled in a legal row. He was accused of misusing his position as President of the republic and a court case may still arise from this affair. After this incident, Lula wisely kept out of the fray and left Suplicy to her fate. 

Dirty Campaign in São Paulo    
The São Paulo race was an unsavory affair with mud-slinging and dubious practices on both sides. The PT camp covered the city in posters and spent a fortune on canvassing voters. Suplicy blatantly tried to turn the poorer classes against the better off. She tried to intimidate the middle class by claiming that a PSDB victory would lead to the federal government turning off funds to the city. She predicted chaos if she was not returned to office. She also granted city employees an extra day´s holiday just before the second round of voting as, incidentally, did the PSDB state governor, Geraldo Alckmin. Suplicy burst into tears on one public occasion and claimed she was being hounded and mistreated by the press over her professional and private life because she was a woman. There may be some truth in some of these allegations but politics is a rough game and Suplicy showed that, while she could give it out she could not take it herself.

Funny Timing
One curious incident which could substantiate Suplicy´s claims shows how there is always something funny about Brazilian politics. About 10 days before polling day, the organizer of the PT campaign, Duda Mendonça, was arrested as he watched a cock fight (sic) at a private club in Rio de Janeiro. Although cock-fighting is against the law, this club appears to have functioned undisturbed for about 20 years and Mendonça´s name even appears on a plaque of founder members. It seems strange, therefore, that the police should decided to crack down on this place at such a convenient time for opponents of Suplicy. The police on the ground said they had no idea who Mendonça was when he was arrested – and this is probably true – but whoever gave the tip-off or the order to raid club must have known.

Mendonça was released after a night in captivity but played no further role in the campaign. It is doubtful if his presence would have saved the Suplicy camp by that stage but it was certainly an extremely serious blow to its campaign. (It also shocked many people to find that that supposedly intelligent people, some of whom claim to be socialists, enjoy watching and betting on barbaric contests in which poor dumb creatures are mutilated and killed.)

There have been reports that Suplicy might become the PT´s candidate for the position of state governor. If the party has any sense it will scrap this idea immediately. If she could cause such revulsion among her own townsfolk, her chances of conquering the state would be remote, especially in the footsteps of the current governor Alckmin who has proven to be competent and popular.

(c) John Fitzpatrick 2004