Haddad tells allies that he will run for SP government; Pacheco should run in Minas

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT), gave in to pressure. After months of stating that he would not contest the elections this year, he told allies that he will be a candidate for the government of São Paulo because he could never deny a request made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Haddad and Lula will have another conversation this Thursday, 26th, at dinner at Palácio da Alvorada. The president will also meet once again with senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) and hopes to agree with him the final details for his candidacy for the government of Minas Gerais.

With this arrangement, Lula is able to set up platforms in the two largest electoral colleges in the country: São Paulo and Minas. Apparently, the vice-president on the PT ticket for a new term at Palácio do Planalto will continue to be Geraldo Alckmin (PSB).

The rise of senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), Lula’s challenger, in the voting intention polls surprised the Palácio do Planalto. There is a diagnosis in the government that it was a mistake to leave Flávio “loose”, without attacking him or exposing the accusations against him, such as the “rachadinha” scandal.

Furthermore, the PT leadership assesses that the candidacy of the governor of São Paulo for re-election, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), is facing difficult times after disagreements between him and the Secretary of Government, Gilberto Kassab. Therefore, this would be the moment for Haddad to start articulating his pre-campaign and making political articulations, even if discreetly.

The head of the Treasury does not officially assume the candidacy, but will leave the government at the end of this month or at the beginning of April to compete for Bandeirantes. Haddad is now considered Lula’s successor in the PT, starting in 2030.

The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, must leave the Network and join the PT to be a candidate for the Senate. The second wave, however, is still under discussion.

One of the possibilities is that the Minister of Planning, Simone Tebet (MDB-MS), runs for the Senate in São Paulo. For this operation, however, she will have to disaffiliate from the MDB – since the party supports Tarcísio’s candidacy – and change her electoral domicile to São Paulo. Tebet received an invitation to join the PSB, but has not yet made a final decision.

In several private conversations with Haddad on his recent trip to India, Lula said he needed him in São Paulo because he needs a strong platform in the country’s largest electoral college.

In 2022, the PT member lost the dispute for Palácio dos Bandeirantes to Tarcísio. But, according to calculations always remembered by the PT, Lula only won the election of then president Jair Bolsonaro that year because he managed to obtain more votes in the capital of São Paulo. And that credit goes to Haddad.

At the beginning of the week, PT leaders met in São Paulo and agreed that Haddad needed to give the party a response by March 10th. Behind the scenes, however, his candidacy in São Paulo was considered practically certain.

Lula also told interlocutors, on the trip to India, that he was counting on Pacheco to run for government of Minas. He stated that everything was well underway with the senator.

Former president of the Senate, Pacheco would have liked to have been nominated for a vacancy on the Federal Supreme Court (STF), but Lula chose the chief minister of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), Jorge Messias.

Messias’ hearing in the Senate, however, has not yet been scheduled because the choice of the head of the Executive provoked opposition, especially from the president of the House, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP).

But Lula is reaching an agreement with Alcolumbre by which Pacheco should be a candidate in Minas for another party – probably União Brasil. In return, the president of the Senate has carte blanche to make new appointments in the government.