RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “They thought they were going to kill us, but thanks to our militancy we are alive, very much alive”, said the deputy in her speech after the victory.
The Workers’ Party held on Sunday, November 24th, the final session of the 7th National Conference of the party, in the Casa de Portugal, downtown São Paulo.
The election for the party’s leadership was disputed by three candidates. In addition to the federal deputy and current president, also in contention were federal deputy Margarida Salomão and Walter Pomar, a historian. Federal deputy Paulo Teixeira, also a candidate, removed his name from the dispute at the last minute.
The outcome of the voting, which began after the final plenary session, was released at 6:45 PM during the closing of the Conference. In all, Gleisi won 558 votes out of 792 PT delegates from all over the country who took part in the election. Pomar received 91 votes, Margarida Solomão another 131 votes, and 12 delegates cast blank votes.
Alliances for 2020 on the horizon
During her victory speech, Gleisi said the PT does not rule out supporting other parties in next year’s municipal elections. “We don’t rule out acting together with the progressive camp anywhere,” she said. “If there is a candidacy outside the PT in the progressive camp with the potential to defeat the Bolsonaro alliance, we will support it”.
The re-elected PT president also spoke of the significance of the party resuming its work with the population in the streets and communities, as well as using social media more forcefully.
“The right-wing is ahead of us, we need to use social media more, unite and fight,” she said. “The far-right is in the streets winning people over, doing their basic work, we have to dispute this territory, oppose it on the streets too.
“Building a new Brazil”
The winning thesis in Congress, from the ‘Construindo um Novo Brasil’ (“Building a New Brazil”) current, reiterates the PT’s opposition to the government, albeit without the vehement defense of the “Bolsonaro, Out” slogan.
“We intend to have a more global project for the country,” said Senator Humberto Costa, present at the party congress. In his opinion, the 2020 elections are not among the main topics under discussion, but he confirmed that the PT tends to submit its own candidacies or form alliances with other leftist acronyms.
According to the press office, ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who spoke at the Conference opening on Friday night, November 22nd, would not be attending on Sunday. Nevertheless, attendees hoped that he would come in a surprise visit.
Source: Agência Estado, UOL