Flávio minimizes the chance of Zema and Caiado joining forces in a right-wing candidacy
Senator and pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), stated that he does not believe that former governors Romeu Zema (Novo-MG) and Ronaldo Caiado (PSD-GO) will unite their pre-candidacies on a single ticket to run in the October elections.
“I don’t believe they will come together in their own candidacy. I was one of those who encouraged both Zema’s and Caiado’s candidacy. I think it’s important to have several pre-candidates who can show the truth about Lula’s misgovernment. The more campaigns we have showing the truth about this, alerting the Brazilian people”, he stated in an interview with Itatiaia this Tuesday (2).
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In the last two weeks, both pre-candidates have been open to the possibility of joining forces. The movement occurs at the same time that Flávio Bolsonaro suffers electoral wear and tear reflected in polls of voting intentions after the revelation of the senator’s closeness to Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master.
On May 26, Zema stated that he would not rule out alliances in the first round of elections to facilitate a right-wing candidacy in Flávio’s place. However, the former governor of Minas Gerais said that conversations should take place later, as the political scenario evolves.
“These conversations always take place and, with all certainty, the outcome of this will be on the deadline. Because, in politics, it is at midnight on the deadline that things are usually defined”, he stated in reference to the Electoral Court calendar, which establishes August 15th as the maximum deadline for registering tickets.
The position was endorsed by Caiado, who, on May 27, admitted the possibility of a union. “With the last survey we talked about, there is this feeling and he is an open person. So, we are really evaluating this”, said Caiado in an interview with Nova Difusora radio.
“At this moment, the two candidates (Flávio and Lula) are in a position, we are humble to recognize, well above us. When we join forces, will they only be able to arrive strong in the second round or will they be able to arrive competitive in the first round?”, he added.
According to the latest AtlasIntel/Bloomberg survey, released on May 19, Flávio dropped six percentage points in voting intentions for the second round and holds 41.8%, against 48.9% for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
The downward scenario is reinforced by the Datafolha and Meio/Ideia surveys, which respectively represented a drop of 4 and 3 percentage points in relation to the surveys carried out in April.
