Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul Governor says he will resign from state government, might run for president

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an event held on Monday, March 28, Eduardo Leite announced that he would resign as governor of Rio Grande do Sul and confirmed that he would remain affiliated with PSDB.

With the decision, the politician refused the invitation from PSD president Gilberto Kassab, who had already made clear his intention to affiliate Leite to the party and launch him as a pre-candidate to the Planalto Palace.

Leaving open the possibility of running for the presidency of the Republic, Leite confirmed that he would leave the post of governor to meet what the electoral law requires. “I will renounce a power in order not to renounce politics,” he said in a video shown at the Piratini Palace. However, during the statement, the Rio Grande do Sul governor did not state whether he would run for president or another office in this year’s elections.

According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), April 2 is the last date for candidates to be disqualified from running for president. By law, governors, judges, state secretaries, ministers, and other elected officials must leave their posts to run for different positions.

Now, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul is Ranolfo Vieira Júnior, Eduardo Leite’s vice-governor at the time. Praising the fall of criminal indicators in the state due to Ranolfo’s management at the head of the Secretariat of Public Safety, Leite said that the state’s new governor follows each data and project of the government.

“I have absolute confidence in Ranolfo’s conduct. His background, resumé, and trajectory attest to this and give me total certainty and conviction that Ranolfo is on top of every issue,” said the toucan.

Leite considered that he leaves open the “availability and freedom to move in any necessary direction in Brazil or Rio Grande do Sul”. He further stated that he feels the need to “actively participate in this very decisive moment in our country.”

“This movement I am making is to present myself so that I can be where I can contribute the most in this political moment that I consider critical for Brazil,” he said. The Rio Grande do Sul governor added that he continues in politics and that “resigning from office opens up many possibilities.”

Leite also revealed that he called João Doria, current pre-candidate of the PSDB to the Planalto Palace before his speech at the Rio Grande do Sul government headquarters. “We had a friendly conversation, in the cordial tone that we always treat each other, and we reaffirmed that we have the same feeling, to make an alternative for Brazil possible,” he said.

In November 2021, Leite was surpassed by the governor of São Paulo, João Doria (PSDB), in the party’s primaries to choose a candidate for the Presidential Palace.

CANDIDACY FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC

Both Doria and Leite score at similar levels in the electoral polls, with Doria numerically ahead but with a position that does not give him a comfortable seat as the party’s nominee for the Planalto.

Leite, who has the support of renowned figures within the PSDB, such as Aécio Neves and Tasso Jereissati, stays in the party to challenge the governor of São Paulo as a presidential candidate. He intends to mobilize other center parties, strengthening the third way.

Doria, however, said that the attempts of part of the PSDB to reverse his candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic would be a “coup”. The governor of São Paulo defended the party’s primary elections process and the homologation of his name as the party’s candidate.

“The primaries were held for three months all over Brazil; 44,000 PSDB electors voted. There was the homologation, an act celebrated in Brasília with the three candidates who disputed, Senator Arthur Virgílio, Governor Eduardo Leite, and me, with the presence of the national president of PSDB,” Doria said. “Any other sentiment different from that is a coup.”

At Monday’s event, Leite reinforced that he respects the primaries held by the party but said that conversations with other parties for the formation of bases of support are open. “It’s not about the primaries; it’s not about a personal project; it’s about Brazil,” he said.

DEBATE

CNN Brasil will hold the first presidential debate of 2022. The confrontation between the candidates will be broadcast live on August 6 on TV and digital platforms.

With information from CNN Brasil