Leite says he wants presidency, but admits to give up to Tarcisio and talk to Mouse

The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, said on Friday, 9, that he wants to be the PSD candidate for the President of the Republic in 2026. He defended a center candidacy to overcome the polarization and stated that his desire to lead the project “will never be bigger” than to see the country work, showing if other center-right governors demonstrate more viability. “The ends do not justify the means,” he said.

Leite left the PSDB and joined the party chaired by Gilberto Kassab this Friday, 9, during a ceremony at the acronym headquarters in Sao Paulo. The gaucho has the internal competition of the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Júnior (PSD), with whom he said he did not want to compete in previews, as he did in the PSDB with João Doria, but to reach a consensus on the best name.

He also admitted the possibility of supporting the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), if he decides to compete in the Plateau.

“I understand that if we have a common project for Brazil we have to recognize that, if under his leadership (Tarcisio) this can better be effective, to be done,” said Leite when asked about the chief executive of São Paulo.

“Now, I position myself because I feel ready to lead the project. He (Kassab) knows this aspiration and this desire and knows that by my side will never be at all costs. At this point, it is less about the names and more about the discussion of the project,” said Leite, adding that a Senate candidacy for Rio Grande do Sul is at the table if he cannot compete in Planalto.

Shortly after the statement, Kassab again said that it is “more than the natural” that the PSD does not launch candidate and supports Tarcisio if the governor of São Paulo decides for the presidential election.

In his speech, Eduardo Leite said that polarization prevents the evolution of Brazil and that it is necessary to stop fighting with people and face problems from the country, such as inflation and crime. It also preached that reforms and adjustments that are not friendly will be needed to correct the federal government’s fiscal imbalance.

“We need to do this the right way, the way it seeks convergence and not the deepening of conflicts. You can no longer live in a country where you can not talk about politics,” the newly philuted PSD told. “We want a center where you have a position, has a project, you know what you want for Brazil and what a dialogue,” he added.

The attendance list featured names such as PSD leader in the House of Representatives, Antonio Brito, São Paulo Deputy Governor Felício Ramuth (PSD), São Paulo’s Secretary of Strategic Projects, Guilherme Afif Domingos (PSD), former Minister Andrea Matarazzo (PSD), former Senator Heraclito Fortes (PSD) and PSD President Cássio Soares (PSD). Also present were Federal Deputy Saulo Pedroso (PSD-SP), the Secretary of Economic Development of the City of São Paulo, Rodrigo Goulart (PSD), and the councilman of São Paulo Thammy Miranda (PSD).

Leite leaves the PSDB after 24 years and amid discussion of a fusion between toucans and Somos, which would result in the creation of a new caption. During the week, the gaucho governor said the PSDB is “ceasing to exist” as it would have new name, number and party program.

Leite had already tried to run for the presidency in 2022, but lost the PSDB previews to Doria. At the end, the acronym summit decided not to launch a candidate and the gaucho governor disputed, and won the reelection to command the state.

Eduardo Leite will be the president of the PSD in Rio Grande do Sul. “This is the opportunity of our party to have someone very qualified, prepared and who has passed good examples,” said Kassab.

The PSD was the party that most elected mayors in the last election, governing one in six municipalities in the country. In March, Kassab’s party joined Pernambuco’s governor Raquel Lyra, in another low PSDB.

Now, with the departure of milk, the toucans will have only one state executive to call their: Eduardo Riedel, governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, last toucan stronghold.

Living a shrink process in recent years, the PSDB has tried to join the PSD itself, as Leite revealed to have defended in the internal discussions, and the MDB, but the discussion really went with Somos.

The Last Governor

The PSDB faces emptying with the PSD affiliation of the governor of Pernambuco, Raquel Lyra, and the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite. Now the party is in danger of losing its last remaining governor: Eduardo Riedel do Mato Grosso do Sul.

Riedel has already received invitations from parties such as PSD, PP and PL. Publicly, however, the governor states that he will not leave the acronym in the near future. Two weeks ago, he rejected the idea of ​​changing subtitles.

“No one said I’m leaving the PSDB. I’m not worried about leaving, because I’m not leaving the party,” he said at an event at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS).

The governor has committed to leaders to expect not only the fusion between PSDB with Somos, but also the definition if a federation of the new acronym with other parties will be realized. The alliance is expected to be a party of greater national presence, such as Republicans or MDB, can restructure the strength of the acronym.

About 260 councilors and 44 toucan mayors of the state expect the definition of Riedel and former governor Reinaldo Azambuja, current regional president of the PSDB, to decide the future party. The acronym has almost 30% of the total councilors and more than half of the mayors.

The governor has followed his discreet profile, without express preferences for some specific acronym, sources said near Riedel. If you keep your historical performance, the governor should not choose a party that positions himself at the extremes.

The toucans lost electoral force and representativeness after successive party crises and cracks and the consolidation of pockets as the main antipetista force since 2018. The PSDB has left 100 federal deputies elected in 1998 to 13 in 2022. It did not elected senators in the last election-the senate bench has a member elected in 2018 and two newly affected-and saw the number of mayors 72% falling 72% since year 2000, the oldest municipal election contained in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) statistics system.