Former Governor of São Paulo João Doria withdrew this Monday from his presidential candidacy for the October elections in Brazil, after his Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) made it clear that it would support Senator Simone Tebet in the framework of an alliance with the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB).
“Serenely, I admit that I am not the choice of the PSDB leadership“, Doria said after meeting with the party leadership. “I withdraw from the dispute with a broken heart“, he said before thanking those who have accompanied him so far.
“I accept this reality with my head held high. The PSDB will know how to make its best decision for the elections,” Doria said, later saying that will follow the electoral process as “an observer”.
Doria gave a speech of just over ten minutes accompanied by several PSDB leaders, including the party’s president, Bruno Araújo, the main supporter of the alliance with the MDB. both parties reported last week that the results of a survey ordered to define the candidacy showed that Tebet was a better optionan alternative that had been handled as preferred for weeks.
After Doria withdrew from his candidacy, which had been ratified in the PSDB primaries in December, Araújo said that what remains ahead is to confirm “the unity” of the parties around Tebet and advance in the elaboration of the government program and the regional candidatures.
Faced with a journalist’s remark that the PSDB may not be represented in the formula that leads the alliance to the elections, Araújo stressed that the representation of the party “is not an end in itself” because the moment that Brazil is experiencing “morally obliges everyone” to prioritize the competitiveness of the formula and seek the best for the country.
Besides, Araújo called on the Unión Brasil party to rejoin the allianceof which chose to leave at the beginning of May, announcing a formula made up solely of its members. “We make a call for reflection so that Unión Brasil becomes part of this project again. It would be very welcome,” he insisted.
For its part, Tebet released a statement saying “Doria was never an adversary. He was always an ally.” and stated that he hopes to “talk” with him to receive “his suggestions for the government program.” “Brazil is greater than any individual project. We are going to work to unite the entire democratic center,” she added.
The polls so far show a great polarization before the elections on October 2, with former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the favorite with more than forty percent of the voting intention, followed by the current president Jair Bolsonaro with just over twenty. . The other candidates appear with support of less than ten points, including Doria, who appeared with up to four percent, and Tebet with up to two.
