The PSOL federal deputy will be the first to have his name confirmed at the São Paulo city hall during a party congress in the north of the capital. Marta, Erundina and Haddad are expected
The Federal Deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) will be the first to formalize its candidacy for the San Paolo City Hall at the party convention scheduled for this Saturday, 20th. The event will be attended by the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT). According to the electoral calendar, parties must hold their congresses between July 20 and August 5. Candidacies must be registered with the Electoral Tribunal by August 15. This week, Boulos’ campaign also begins a new phase, dedicated to the presentation of proposals. Two areas are expected to gain greater importance: health and public safety.
The PSOL campaign expects an audience of 10,000 people for the event, which will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Expo Center Norte, in Vila Guilherme, in the northern zone. In practice, it will be the convention of the seven parties that support Boulos in the controversy: PCdoB, PDT, PMB, PSOL, PT, PV and Rede. In addition to formalizing the coalition, the meeting will formalize the candidates for mayor, deputy mayor and councilor for the October elections.
Marta Suplicy (PT), former mayor of São Paulo and vice-president of Boulos, will be present at the conference. In addition to her, two other former mayors are expected: the federal deputy Louise Erundine (PSOL), who governed the capital of São Paulo from 1989 to 1992, and Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddadmayor from 2013 to 2016. Other ministers from the Lula government are also expected at the event.
Part of Boulos’s electoral strategy is to save the legacy of former left-wing mayors. Erundina’s administration was characterized by social housing projects, while Haddad’s was distinguished by the Master Plan. Marta is credited with implementing the single ticket.
History of PT administrations
The election of Boulos as mayor of São Paulo is one of Lula’s priorities in this year’s municipal elections. PT members fear that a possible victory by current mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) could be interpreted as a triumph of Bolsonarism in the country’s largest city and a harbinger of the return of the right to power in 2026.
Although Nunes is not exactly a candidate of Bolsonaro, and is even part of a party that is part of the PT government, the mayor has received the support of Bolsonaro for his re-election and is a major ally of the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), seen as a possible successor to Bolsonaro if the former president remains ineligible.
Boulos’s electoral strategy relies heavily on his association with President Lula. According to a Datafolha poll published this month, Lula is considered excellent or good by 34% of São Paulo residents, while the same percentage considers him bad or terrible. In contrast, Tarcísio receives a positive rating of 34%, while 27% of respondents view his government negatively. The survey was conducted in person with 1,092 people aged 16 and over in São Paulo, between July 2 and 4, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Despite having governed the city on three occasions, the PT has a history of challenges in the country’s largest city. Luiza Erundina left the administration and only 19% of São Paulo residents rated her administration as excellent or good. There were no re-elections under Erundina. However, she was unable to elect her successor. Fernando Haddad, in turn, had an approval rating of just 14% in the final months of his term. Even as mayor, Haddad, now Finance Minister, was defeated by João Doria, then a PSDB outsider and the first candidate to win in the first round in São Paulo since 1992, when there was a second round.
Marta Suplicy, despite currently being recognized as the best mayor that São Paulo has ever had by 16% of São Paulo residents, according to a Datafolha poll, failed to be re-elected and lost to Gilberto Kassab.
Despite the PT’s successive defeats, there is an expectation that the three former left-wing mayors will appear on Boulos’ platform. The delay in holding this meeting can be attributed to past clashes between Marta, Erundina and Haddad. In a meeting with Boulos, Erundina stated that Marta’s return to the PT, after nine years away from the party, was a mistake.
Marta left the PT in 2015, criticizing the party, and voted in favor of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (PT). Her return, formalized in February, was organized by President Lula so that she would become vice president in the role of Boulos. The psoloista’s main opponent in the municipal race is currently the mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB), supported by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Campaign proposals
Boulos’ campaign enters a new phase this week, focused on the presentation of proposals. Health and public safety are the areas that will receive special attention. This new stage marks the end of the plenary phase, thematic meetings with experts and civil society to gather requests and proposals for the government plan. In total, according to the homeless leader’s campaign, 14 meetings have taken place, attended by about 5,000 people over nearly months.
The idea of the campaign is that, starting this week, once the convention is held, Boulos will begin to present to voters proposals that will figure in his government plan. The choice to prioritize health and public safety is anchored in the internal campaign research that shows these two issues at the top of the list of concerns for São Paulo residents
The emphasis is supported by a recent Datafolha poll, which found that 23 percent of São Paulo residents cite security as the city’s biggest problem, followed by health at 16 percent. The survey, conducted in person on March 7 and 8, interviewed 1,090 people and has a margin of error of three points, plus or minus.
In the area of Public Security, two proposals have already been defined: doubling the staff of the São Paulo Municipal Guard (GCM) and equipping the guards with body cameras. According to campaign activists interviewed by Estadão, Boulos should focus on issues within the jurisdiction of the city hall, avoiding debates that could generate wear and tear, such as the decriminalization of drugs.
In the health sector, Boulos intends to launch “Mais Médicos Especialidades,” a São Paulo version of the federal program. The proposal is to open calls for applications urgently to meet the demand for specialists in the city.
Boulos’ campaign plans to present a first version of the government program to the Regional Electoral Tribunal (TRE) next week.
“The government plan that we will present in the coming weeks is the result of a broad listening process with the entire society of São Paulo, involving the population of the neighborhoods, experts and former leaders of different areas. We will have bold proposals, which will bring innovative solutions, some of which have already been tested in metropolises around the world, for the main problems encountered in our city”, says economist Camila de Caso, coordinator of the government plan of Boulos and Marta Suplicy (PT).
Source: Terra
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