The ruralist caucus, one of the most influential in Congress, obtained a re-election rate in the Chamber a little above the general average of the deputies who ran for office again. The Agricultural Parliamentary Front currently has 247 deputies and is part of the base of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Of this total, 202 ran for a new term in the Chamber. 133 were victorious, that is, about 65% of reelection rate. Considering the entire composition of the Chamber, this rate was 60.6%.
The president of the bench, Sérgio Souza (MDB-PR), who was also reelected, hopes that newcomers will join the group, which, according to him, may surpass the 255-member mark in the next legislature.
“We are preparing a diagnosis, but everything indicates that the parliamentary front will be strengthened,” he said. The Chamber has a total of 513 deputies. In addition to Souza, other ruralist leaders managed to renew their mandate, such as Alceu Moreira (MDB-RS), who led the bench in the first years of the current government.
Both worked to get the MDB to declare support for Bolsonaro in the second round. The party, however, remained neutral and released the state directories in the dispute between the president and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
The third place in the presidential election, Simone Tebet (MDB), declared support for PT.
“Now that the congressional election has passed, we are going to be 100% involved in Bolsonaro’s campaign. This goes for state and federal deputies, governors, now ready to help with the president’s reelection,” said Alceu.
For Souza, the outcome of the congressional election poses challenges for Lula, should he be elected president — although he affirms that the PT’s possibility of victory does not exist. “It’s a stronger Congress and it wants agricultural agendas, wants family causes; a more conservative profile”, said the deputy.
On the PT side, Lula’s allies hope that Tebet’s support will expand the dialogue with ruralists.
Leaders of the agro bench, however, say that this will not be enough for the majority Bolsonar sector to embark on the PT candidate.
Businessman Carlos Ernesto Augustin, who helps the former president’s campaign, said another idea is to take Lula to a meeting with the ruralist elite at an event at the Instituto Pensar Agropecuária, chaired by former deputy Nilson Leitão (PSDB).
Leitão is a consultant for the CNA (Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil), which defends Bolsonaro’s re-election. He was also one of the articulators of the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT).
In line with President Bolsonaro, representatives of the sector have said, since the beginning of the campaign, that the articulation of former governor Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) will not reduce resistance to Lula’s candidacy.
Candidate for vice president on the ticket with PT, the former toucan was chosen to bridge the gap with ruralists and attract votes in the terrain of strong Bolsonarista tendency.
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