Brazil’s right-wing has launched a search for Bolsonaro’s successor after his disqualification

Dead king, installed king. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not be able to run for office or hold public office for the next eight years after he was convicted of abuse of power this Friday, and Brazil’s right-wing is already debating who will succeed him as opposition leader Lula da Silva. and a candidate for the 2026 presidential election.

The best placed is the governor of São Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas, who won last year’s elections, in the second round, with 55% of the vote, beating former presidential candidate Fernando Haddad, the current finance minister and considered the politician closest to Lula, by 11 points. That victory in the most populous state and economic engine of the South American giant polished his prestige gained during his time as Bolsonaro’s infrastructure minister, when he inaugurated numerous works at events that were widely celebrated on social networks.

civil engineer by profession technical profile, He himself was part of the army, reaching the rank of captain, the same one held by former President Bolsonaro. He is a favorite of a wide spectrum of the right. Many see him as able to retain the votes of the former president’s most radical supporters but, at the same time, win the support of a much more focused traditional right. Part of that political spectrum rejects the far-right leader and even came to support Lula da Silva in last year’s elections.

In fact, Tarcísio has already managed to break down four decades of the center-right PSDB government in São Paulo, a party divided over the figure of Bolsonaro. There, the new governor surrounded himself with technocrats, moving away from the sharp ideological struggle, and argued for the need for dialogue with the Government. For now, Tarcísio avoids talking about his leadership on the right, although some analysts see the position as a way not to appear opportunistic.

Romeo lands

It is an attitude similar to an attitude Romeo lands, the popular governor of Minas Gerais, the country’s second most populous region, who swept the first round, winning 56% of the vote, 21 points more than his rival. “I have deep respect for him. In my opinion, he did a good job in Minas, because he took over the state that was destroyed by the Workers’ Party and as a good mineiro which works in silence, is an option for the future, 2030, 2034, 2038,” Bolsonaro himself said this week about Zema, who used to demand the space of the classical right, while at the same time getting closer to the former president.

The second presidential option is former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, very strong in the evangelical electorate. The former president himself does not rule it out, and PL has been building his profile in recent months with constant trips around Brazil. they could strive too his parliamentary sonsalthough they also have judicial problems that could distance them from the presidential race.