DEM and PSL merge, forming Brazil’s largest political party, called União Brasil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – DEM (Democrats, center-right) and PSL (Social Liberal Party, right) approved, in conventions held this Wednesday (6) in Brasilia, the merger between the two parties. The new party will be called União Brasil.

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) still needs to approve the new amalgamation. The leaders of DEM believe that the merger process will take three months to be analyzed by the court.

According to DEM’s national president, ACM Neto, the expectation is that the merger will lead to the formation of the most prominent party in the country. However, the merger process should also lead to the exit of several members of both parties, including members of Congress.

Onyx Lorenzoni, minister of Labor and Social Security in the Bolsonaro government and a DEM member, voted against the merger and asked for his position to be recorded in the convention’s minutes.

Even with casualties in both parties, União Brasil should have the most significant bench in the Chamber of Deputies. Currently, the party situation in Congress is shown below:

DEM:
28 deputies; and
6 senators, including the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (DEM-MG).

PSL:
54 deputies; and
2 senators

If the current numbers of the two parties are considered, the merger will leave União Brasil with 82 deputies, far more than PT, with 53 deputies.

In the Senate, União Brasil would have 8 senators and be the fourth largest party, behind MDB (the largest, with 15 senators), PSD, and Podemos.

JAIR BOLSONARO

President Jair Bolsonaro was affiliated with the PSL and was in the party when he was elected in 2018. He left it in November 2019 after a series of disagreements with PSL President Luciano Bivar.

Bolsonaro’s departure triggered a crisis in the party, dividing the wings linked to him and Bivar, who has supported the merger with DEM.