Happy Monday! This week, a new potential presidential candidate emerges. Safety fears for the 2022 campaign go beyond Covid-19.
Centrist parties betting on Pacheco
Unknown to the average voter, absent in all presidential polls, and with a modest track record in the big leagues of Brazilian politics. Still, Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco is emerging as a popular potential “third-way” candidate among center-right parties.
- Mr. Pacheco has been courted by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) to switch from his Democratas (DEM) party and appear on their presidential ticket. While Mr. Pacheco is coy about his chances of running, sources told The Brazilian Report he is keen on accepting the invitation “when the time is right.”
What’s on his mind. The Senate is the stage for several discussions which are important to the government, such as confirmation hearings and the inquiry into the government’s Covid-19 response. With his tremendous agenda-setting powers, Mr. Pacheco doesn’t want to come across as a self-serving croupier.
Why it matters. Whispers from the barracks suggest the Armed Forces are less than willing to accept an election win for former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which could give him a third presidential term 12 years after...