Happy Friday! Today, we talk about the debacle of the so-called “third way.” Congressional musical chairs ahead of the election. And possible changes to Petrobras’ fuel pricing policy.
How the third way melted
Say what you like about Brazilian politics, but it’s never boring. On Thursday, we saw a series of events that effectively buried the already flimsy chances any candidate had of upsetting the two-horse race between President Jair Bolsonaro and the frontrunner, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Here’s what happened:
- The day began with news that São Paulo Governor João Doria would drop out of the race and remain governor.
- This was followed by former Justice Minister Sergio Moro dropping out – and changing parties.
- In a twist, Mr. Doria then gave up on giving up and said he would follow his original plan, stepping down from the governors’ office and indeed running for president.
Left adrift. The erratic moves by Messrs. Doria and Moro had different motivations but stem from a similar issue: they both lack support from within their own ranks and, no matter what they do, are stagnating in the polls.
Doria. Despite winning the primaries held by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB)...