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Democrats (Brazil)
Encyclopedia
The Democrats is a centre-right
political party
in Brazil
, considered the main in the right-wing spectrum. Despite its former name (Liberal Front Party), the party affiliates itself to the Centrist Democrat International
, and the International Democrat Union
. The name comes from its support to free market
policies. It was founded on March 28, 2007, in order to replace the Liberal Front Party (PFL), which was a dissidence of the defunct Democratic Social Party (PDS), successor to the National Renewal Alliance (Arena), official party during the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. DEM's identification number is 25 and its colors are green
, blue
and white
.
' Estado Novo
regime, in order to oppose the nationalist policies of the late President. UDN ran presidential candidates in the elections of 1945
, 1950
and 1955
, casting Brigadier Eduardo Gomes
as candidate in the first two and General Juarez Távora
in the latter, losing in all three occasions. On 1960, UDN was able to obtain a historical victory by supporting the conservative candidate Jânio Quadros
, which was not a member of UDN himself. After his resignation on August 25, 1961, in a clumsy political maneuver, Vice-President João Goulart
, from a different electoral coalition (at that time, Brazilians would vote for President and Vice President separately), took office. A member of Vargas' Brazilian Labour Party
(Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro - PTB), and a political protégé of the late President, his Basic Reforms were labelled as a Soviet
influence on Brazilian politics. He was depposed by the Army
in a US-backed coup d'état in 1964, which was supported by most UDN members.
established on 1945 was abolished. The military rule established two parties: the National Renewal Alliance Party
(Aliança Renovadora Nacional - ARENA), the official party of the regime, and the Brazilian Democratic Movement
(Movimento Democrático Brasileiro - MDB), the moderate opposition. Most UDN members, as well as most members of the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrático - PSD) and minor conservative parties, joined UDN. Although there were no direct elections for President during the military dictatorship, the regime kept the elections for the National Congress
, with some restrictions. Arena had an overwhelming voting in the parliamentary elections of 1966 and 1970 as a result of MDB's weak organization and of the regime's self-called "economic miracle". However, MDB's advance in 1974 and 1978 made the regime change the election rules in the country in order to gain more seats than the opposition. With the end of bipartisanship
, Arena was officially dissolved on November 29, 1979, just a week after the electoral reform. The former Arena then became the Democratic Social Party
(Partido Democrático Social - PDS), supporting the administration of General João Figueiredo, who would become the last military President of Brazil.
, Minas Gerais
, Rio de Janeiro
, Espírito Santo
, Paraná
, Pará
, and Goiás
.
gathered thousands of peoples in the streets of major cities to demand the direct election of the next President, as envisaged in the Dante de Oliveira amendment, which was pending approval in the Congress. On January 10, 1984, PDS rejected the support to this proposition, but a pro-Diretas Já group emerged within the party a few days later. On April 25, 1984, the Congress, besieged by Army officials, voted the amendment. It did not reach the required quorum for approval, due to the absence of 112 deputies from PDS.
After the attempts to promote a direct election failed, discussions about the presidential succession turned to the National Congress, which would elect the President indirectly in the following year. The pro-Diretas Já group of PDS formed the Liberal Front, and decided to support PMDB's candidate Tancredo Neves
against PDS's Paulo Maluf
, the official candidate of the military regime. With the support of Aureliano Chaves
, Marco Maciel
, Antônio Carlos Magalhães
, and Jorge Bornhausen
, among other major dissidents from PDS, the Liberal Front named José Sarney
as Neves' running mate for the 1985 presidential election
. On January 15, 1985, the Neves/Sarney presidential ticket got 480 of the 686 votes available in the Congress (70% of the total). Nine days later, on January 24, 1985, the Liberal Front officially disbanded from PDS and formed the Liberal Front Party (PFL). With the death of Tancredo Neves on April 21, 1985, Sarney took office as President. Due to the same electoral law that forbade coalitions, Sarney was forced to join PMDB, from which he is a member up until today. PFL, however, was a major allied of his government. His daughter, Roseana
, had been a member of PFL until 2006, when she was expelled from the party for supporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
.
On 1989, Aureliano Chaves was chosen as PFL's presidential candidate, but the weakness of his campaign made most leaders of the party to declare their support for PRN
's candidate, Fernando Collor, himself a former member of Arena, PDS, and PMDB. PFL's Senators, however, had masterminded the candidacy of businessman and television presenter Silvio Santos
, a maneuver which had been hampered by the Supreme Electoral Court. An ally of Collor in the runoff election against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, PFL participated in his government, and even after his impeachment
it participated in the coalition that supported Itamar Franco
's government. From 1994 to 1998, PFL supported Fernando Henrique Cardoso
and thus secured the post of vice-president with Marco Maciel. Next to the 2002 election, an operation led by the Federal Police in Maranhão undermined the presidential candidacy of Roseana Sarney
, leading to a rupture with the government.
, on October 6, 2002, the party won 84 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
and 14 out of 54 seats in the Senate
. After this election, which saw the rise of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as President, PFL became an opposition party for the first time ever since the 1964 coup. The party reorganized its alliance with Cardoso's PSDB in order to form the official opposition in the National Congress.
At the following general elections, held on October 1, 2006, the party won 65 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 6 out of the 27 seats on dispute in the Senate. It became the second largest party in the Senate. The party does not usually run presidential candidates, but does run gubernatorial candidates in several states. At the 2006 elections, the party lost several state governorships, but won the governorship of the Federal District
, which was later lost due to a corruption scandal in which Governor José Roberto Arruda was caught on tape receiving bribery from private companies. In 2007, the party was refounded and adopted its current name.
At the 2010 elections, the party continued to suffer great losses in the Parliament, having lost 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 7 seats in the Senate. DEM was able to elect only two Senators (Demóstentes Torres from Goiás
, and José Agripino Maia from Rio Grande do Norte
), which will join the four others whose seats were not up for election. Its longest-serving member, former Vice President Marco Maciel
, which had been first elected to the National Congress in 1966, was not re-elected and will no longer serve in the Senate. On the other hand, DEM won the governorships of the states of Rio Grande do Norte
and Santa Catarina
, expanding its presence in state administrations.
The party has lost over a half of its votes when comparing the 2006 and 2010 Senate elections. In 2006, it had 21.6 million votes for the upper house, while in 2010 it had just 10.2 million votes. The decline was less sharp in the Chamber of Deputies elections. It had 10.1 million votes in 2006, and 7.3 million in 2010; even though, it lost almost 3 million votes in just a four year period. The decrease in DEM's voting is due to the rapid growth of the Workers' Party
and its allies in the Northeast region. In 1986, the party had 36% of the votes for the Chamber in the Northeast, while in 2006 this was reduced to 17%.
As a result of the decline in DEM's popularity, the party studies to merge itself with another major party, such as the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB). The merge with PMDB, however, has been rejected by most of DEM's leaders due to the fact that it is a member of the Lulista alliance
in the National Congress and in most local level administrations. On 2011, it suffered another decline in its membership when São Paulo
mayor Gilberto Kassab
founded the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and took proeminent DEM members such as Senator Kátia Abreu, Santa Catarina governor Raimundo Colombo, and former vice-presidential candidate Indio da Costa
. PSD has 52 federal deputies and two Senators, most of them former DEM members.
stated in an interview to Brazil's largest newsmagazine Veja
, that the party should be considered centrist and adept of social liberalism
. However, other party leaders have classified it as "internationally, closest to Christian democracy
".
According to political scientist Jairo Nicolau, the name change was intended to crown a process of modernization inside the party. "DEM was launched to be a modern right-wing party, with a new program, and aimed at the urban middle classes; a kind of Conservative Party
in the UK", he says. This, according to him, explains the departure of founding members and the rise of younger leaders. For instance, Jorge Bornhausen
, which had been a member of UDN, retired from the presidency of the party to give place to federal deputy Rodrigo Maia, son of César Maia
. The Santa Catarina
section of the party was taken over by Bornhausen's own son, deputy Paulo Bornhausen. In Bahia, ACM Neto took over the legacy of his grandfather, Antônio Carlos Magalhães
.
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, considered the main in the right-wing spectrum. Despite its former name (Liberal Front Party), the party affiliates itself to the Centrist Democrat International
Centrist Democrat International
The Centrist Democrat International was until 2001 the Christian Democrat International and before that the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International...
, and the International Democrat Union
International Democrat Union
The International Democrat Union, abbreviated to IDU, is a centre-right international alliance of conservative and liberal-conservative political parties. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the IDU comprises 45 full or associate members...
. The name comes from its support to free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
policies. It was founded on March 28, 2007, in order to replace the Liberal Front Party (PFL), which was a dissidence of the defunct Democratic Social Party (PDS), successor to the National Renewal Alliance (Arena), official party during the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. DEM's identification number is 25 and its colors are green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
.
UDN (1945-1964)
The current Democrats have their origins on the National Democratic Union (União Democrática Nacional - UDN), a party founded on April 7, 1945, at the end of Getúlio VargasGetúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
' Estado Novo
Estado Novo (Brazil)
Vargas Era is the period in the history of Brazil that lasted from 1930 to 1945, when the country was under the leadership of Getúlio Dornelles Vargas....
regime, in order to oppose the nationalist policies of the late President. UDN ran presidential candidates in the elections of 1945
Brazilian presidential election, 1945
Presidential elections were held in Brazil on December 2, 1945. These were the first elections since the establishment of Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo.-Historical context:...
, 1950
Brazilian presidential election, 1950
-Historical context:After living in self-imposed exile in his Riograndense ranch between his overthrow in 1945 and 1950, former President Getúlio Vargas decided to run for the Presidency, as the candidate of the Brazilian Labor Party , one of the two he founded after he decided to put an end to his...
and 1955
Brazilian presidential election, 1955
-Historical context:After the suicide of Getúlio Vargas, his Vice President João Café Filho took office. Prior to Vargas' death, Brazil was living a time of intense political division, with the right-wing opposition National Democratic Union , high-level military officers and the mass media openly...
, casting Brigadier Eduardo Gomes
Eduardo Gomes
Air Marshal Eduardo Gomes was a Brazilian politician and military figure. He was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil....
as candidate in the first two and General Juarez Távora
Juarez Távora
Juarez Távora is a town and municipality in the state of Paraíba in the Northeast Region of Brazil.-References:...
in the latter, losing in all three occasions. On 1960, UDN was able to obtain a historical victory by supporting the conservative candidate Jânio Quadros
Jânio Quadros
Jânio da Silva Quadros , , was a Brazilian politician who served as President of Brazil for only 7 months in 1961.-Career:...
, which was not a member of UDN himself. After his resignation on August 25, 1961, in a clumsy political maneuver, Vice-President João Goulart
João Goulart
João Belchior Marques Goulart was a Brazilian politician and the 24th President of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on April 1, 1964. He is considered to have been the last left-wing President of the country until Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003.-Name:João Goulart is...
, from a different electoral coalition (at that time, Brazilians would vote for President and Vice President separately), took office. A member of Vargas' Brazilian Labour Party
Brazilian Labour Party (historical)
The Brazilian Labour Party was a center-left populist political party in Brazil founded in 1945 by supporters of the late Getúlio Vargas. It was dismantled by the military after 1964 coup d'état.-History:...
(Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro - PTB), and a political protégé of the late President, his Basic Reforms were labelled as a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
influence on Brazilian politics. He was depposed by the Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
in a US-backed coup d'état in 1964, which was supported by most UDN members.
Arena (1964-1980)
In 1965, the multi-party systemMulti-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
established on 1945 was abolished. The military rule established two parties: the National Renewal Alliance Party
National Renewal Alliance Party
The National Renewal Alliance Party or Aliança Renovadora Nacional was a conservative political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1985...
(Aliança Renovadora Nacional - ARENA), the official party of the regime, and the Brazilian Democratic Movement
Brazilian Democratic Movement
The Brazilian Democratic Movement was a political party in Brazil that existed from 1965 to 1979. It was formed in 1965, when the military government that overthrew President João Goulart abolished all existing political parties...
(Movimento Democrático Brasileiro - MDB), the moderate opposition. Most UDN members, as well as most members of the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrático - PSD) and minor conservative parties, joined UDN. Although there were no direct elections for President during the military dictatorship, the regime kept the elections for the National Congress
National Congress of Brazil
The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...
, with some restrictions. Arena had an overwhelming voting in the parliamentary elections of 1966 and 1970 as a result of MDB's weak organization and of the regime's self-called "economic miracle". However, MDB's advance in 1974 and 1978 made the regime change the election rules in the country in order to gain more seats than the opposition. With the end of bipartisanship
Bipartisanship
Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system such as the United States, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill, act, resolution, or other political act in which both of the...
, Arena was officially dissolved on November 29, 1979, just a week after the electoral reform. The former Arena then became the Democratic Social Party
Democratic Social Party
The Democratic Social Party was a conservative Brazilian political party.It was established in 1979 as a continuation of the National Renewal Alliance Party , the party which supported the 1965-79 Brazilian dictatorship, at a time in which the country turned to be a democracy...
(Partido Democrático Social - PDS), supporting the administration of General João Figueiredo, who would become the last military President of Brazil.
PDS (1980-1985)
Still under the effect of opposition growth, the government maneuvered to assure a majority for PDS in the following elections. Its first step was to postpone the local elections from 1980 to 1982, when state Governos would be elected by direct vote for the first time since 1960, as well as the members of the National Congress that would elect the new president in 1985. Its next step was to pass an electoral law in the National Congress on January 11, 1982 that prohibited the formation of electoral coalitions and established the obligation for voters to cast their votes for one party for all offices. Due to this, PDS was able to elect more Governors, Senators, Federal Deputies, State Deputies, Mayors and Councilors than the opposition parties. Nevertheless, it lost control of major states such as São PauloSão Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
, Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
, Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
, and Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...
.
PFL (1985-2007)
On January 24, 1985, DEM's direct heir, the Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal - PFL) was founded as as a dissence of PDS. At the time, Brazil was under the effervescence that put an end to the military regime that began in 1964. In the previous year, a series of rallies known as Diretas JáDiretas Já
Diretas Já Now) was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.-Participants of the movement: The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil,...
gathered thousands of peoples in the streets of major cities to demand the direct election of the next President, as envisaged in the Dante de Oliveira amendment, which was pending approval in the Congress. On January 10, 1984, PDS rejected the support to this proposition, but a pro-Diretas Já group emerged within the party a few days later. On April 25, 1984, the Congress, besieged by Army officials, voted the amendment. It did not reach the required quorum for approval, due to the absence of 112 deputies from PDS.
After the attempts to promote a direct election failed, discussions about the presidential succession turned to the National Congress, which would elect the President indirectly in the following year. The pro-Diretas Já group of PDS formed the Liberal Front, and decided to support PMDB's candidate Tancredo Neves
Tancredo Neves
Tancredo de Almeida Neves, SFO more commonly Tancredo Neves was a Brazilian politician. He was born in São João del Rey, in the state of Minas Gerais, of mostly Portuguese, but also Austrian descent and graduated in law. The Neves family name comes from an Azorean great great grandfather...
against PDS's Paulo Maluf
Paulo Maluf
Paulo Salim Maluf is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential candidate. As of 2011, Maluf is on a second consecutive term as Federal Deputy...
, the official candidate of the military regime. With the support of Aureliano Chaves
Aureliano Chaves
Aureliano Chaves was a Brazilian politician.Born in Três Pontas, state of Minas Gerais, he was a Representative of this state in the Chamber of Deputies in 1967 from the ARENA party. He was selected as the governor of Minas Gerais state from 1975 to 1978 and was elected vice-president in 1979...
, Marco Maciel
Marco Maciel
Marco Antônio de Oliveira Maciel is a Brazilian politician. He is a lawyer and a law school professor. He was a founder of the conservative PFL party, former ARENA and was twice elected vice-president in the same ticket as center-right President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in 1994 and 1998...
, Antônio Carlos Magalhães
Antônio Carlos Magalhães
Antônio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhães was a Brazilian politician. His paternal grandparents were Portuguese . He served as Governor of Bahia three times and represented Bahia in the Senate of Brazil three times...
, and Jorge Bornhausen
Jorge Bornhausen
Jorge Bornhausen is a Brazilian politician. He was governor of the state of Santa Catarina from 1979 to 1982, and senator for Santa Catarina from 1983 to 1991 and from 1999 to 2007...
, among other major dissidents from PDS, the Liberal Front named José Sarney
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa is a Brazilian lawyer, writer and politician. He served as president of Brazil from 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990....
as Neves' running mate for the 1985 presidential election
Brazilian presidential election, 1985
The 1985 Brazilian presidential election was the last to be held indirectly through an electoral college, represented by the members of the National Congress . Two groups were disputing the succession of President João Figueiredo: the Democratic Alliance and the Democratic Social Party...
. On January 15, 1985, the Neves/Sarney presidential ticket got 480 of the 686 votes available in the Congress (70% of the total). Nine days later, on January 24, 1985, the Liberal Front officially disbanded from PDS and formed the Liberal Front Party (PFL). With the death of Tancredo Neves on April 21, 1985, Sarney took office as President. Due to the same electoral law that forbade coalitions, Sarney was forced to join PMDB, from which he is a member up until today. PFL, however, was a major allied of his government. His daughter, Roseana
Roseana Sarney
Roseana Sarney Murad is the governor of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. She is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and daughter of former President and currently senator José Sarney....
, had been a member of PFL until 2006, when she was expelled from the party for supporting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
.
On 1989, Aureliano Chaves was chosen as PFL's presidential candidate, but the weakness of his campaign made most leaders of the party to declare their support for PRN
Christian Labour Party
The Christian Labour Party is a christian-conservative political party in Brazil.The party was founded in 1985 as Youth Party by Daniel Tourinho, a brazilian lawyer...
's candidate, Fernando Collor, himself a former member of Arena, PDS, and PMDB. PFL's Senators, however, had masterminded the candidacy of businessman and television presenter Silvio Santos
Silvio Santos
-External links:*...
, a maneuver which had been hampered by the Supreme Electoral Court. An ally of Collor in the runoff election against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, PFL participated in his government, and even after his impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
it participated in the coalition that supported Itamar Franco
Itamar Franco
Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco was a Brazilian politician and the President of Brazil from December 29, 1992, to January 1, 1995. During his long political career, Franco was also a Senator, Mayor, Ambassador, Governor and Vice President...
's government. From 1994 to 1998, PFL supported Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
and thus secured the post of vice-president with Marco Maciel. Next to the 2002 election, an operation led by the Federal Police in Maranhão undermined the presidential candidacy of Roseana Sarney
Roseana Sarney
Roseana Sarney Murad is the governor of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. She is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and daughter of former President and currently senator José Sarney....
, leading to a rupture with the government.
As opposition party (2002-present)
At the legislative electionsElections in Brazil
Brazil elects on the national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected to a four-year term by the people. The National Congress has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members, elected to a four-year term by proportional...
, on October 6, 2002, the party won 84 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
National Congress of Brazil
The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...
and 14 out of 54 seats in the Senate
National Congress of Brazil
The National Congress of Brazil is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government.Unlike regional legislative bodies – Legislative Assemblies and City Councils -, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies .The Senate represents the 26 states and...
. After this election, which saw the rise of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as President, PFL became an opposition party for the first time ever since the 1964 coup. The party reorganized its alliance with Cardoso's PSDB in order to form the official opposition in the National Congress.
At the following general elections, held on October 1, 2006, the party won 65 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 6 out of the 27 seats on dispute in the Senate. It became the second largest party in the Senate. The party does not usually run presidential candidates, but does run gubernatorial candidates in several states. At the 2006 elections, the party lost several state governorships, but won the governorship of the Federal District
Brazilian Federal District
The Federal District is set apart for Brasília, the capital of Brazil. Located in a region called Planalto Central, or Central Plateau, the Federal District is divided in 29 administrative regions. Brasilia - place where the three branches of the Federal Government are located - is the main...
, which was later lost due to a corruption scandal in which Governor José Roberto Arruda was caught on tape receiving bribery from private companies. In 2007, the party was refounded and adopted its current name.
At the 2010 elections, the party continued to suffer great losses in the Parliament, having lost 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 7 seats in the Senate. DEM was able to elect only two Senators (Demóstentes Torres from Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...
, and José Agripino Maia from Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...
), which will join the four others whose seats were not up for election. Its longest-serving member, former Vice President Marco Maciel
Marco Maciel
Marco Antônio de Oliveira Maciel is a Brazilian politician. He is a lawyer and a law school professor. He was a founder of the conservative PFL party, former ARENA and was twice elected vice-president in the same ticket as center-right President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in 1994 and 1998...
, which had been first elected to the National Congress in 1966, was not re-elected and will no longer serve in the Senate. On the other hand, DEM won the governorships of the states of Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...
and Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
, expanding its presence in state administrations.
The party has lost over a half of its votes when comparing the 2006 and 2010 Senate elections. In 2006, it had 21.6 million votes for the upper house, while in 2010 it had just 10.2 million votes. The decline was less sharp in the Chamber of Deputies elections. It had 10.1 million votes in 2006, and 7.3 million in 2010; even though, it lost almost 3 million votes in just a four year period. The decrease in DEM's voting is due to the rapid growth of the Workers' Party
Workers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
and its allies in the Northeast region. In 1986, the party had 36% of the votes for the Chamber in the Northeast, while in 2006 this was reduced to 17%.
As a result of the decline in DEM's popularity, the party studies to merge itself with another major party, such as the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB). The merge with PMDB, however, has been rejected by most of DEM's leaders due to the fact that it is a member of the Lulista alliance
For Brazil to keep on changing
For Brazil to keep on changing is the name of an electoral coalition formed around the democratic socialist Workers' Party in Brazil for the 2010 presidential election. It comprised ten parties from the left and center spectrums: PT, PMDB, PCdoB, PDT, PRB, PR, PSB, PSC, PTC and PTN. On October...
in the National Congress and in most local level administrations. On 2011, it suffered another decline in its membership when São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
mayor Gilberto Kassab
Gilberto Kassab
Gilberto Kassab is a Brazilian politician, current mayor of São Paulo. His term ends in 2012. A civil engineer and economist, of Lebanese descent, Kassab took over from José Serra, after Serra decided to run for governor of São Paulo...
founded the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and took proeminent DEM members such as Senator Kátia Abreu, Santa Catarina governor Raimundo Colombo, and former vice-presidential candidate Indio da Costa
Antônio Pedro de Siqueira Indio da Costa
Antônio Pedro de Siqueira Indio da Costa is a Brazilian lawyer and politician in the Brazilian Democrats Party...
. PSD has 52 federal deputies and two Senators, most of them former DEM members.
Ideology
The party is usually considered to be right-wing. In 2006, the party's former president Jorge BornhausenJorge Bornhausen
Jorge Bornhausen is a Brazilian politician. He was governor of the state of Santa Catarina from 1979 to 1982, and senator for Santa Catarina from 1983 to 1991 and from 1999 to 2007...
stated in an interview to Brazil's largest newsmagazine Veja
Veja (magazine)
Veja is a Brazilian weekly newsmagazine published in São Paulo and distributed throughout the country by the media conglomerate Grupo Abril. It is the leading weekly publication in the country, and one of the most influential outlets of the Brazilian press...
, that the party should be considered centrist and adept of social liberalism
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
. However, other party leaders have classified it as "internationally, closest to Christian democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
".
According to political scientist Jairo Nicolau, the name change was intended to crown a process of modernization inside the party. "DEM was launched to be a modern right-wing party, with a new program, and aimed at the urban middle classes; a kind of Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in the UK", he says. This, according to him, explains the departure of founding members and the rise of younger leaders. For instance, Jorge Bornhausen
Jorge Bornhausen
Jorge Bornhausen is a Brazilian politician. He was governor of the state of Santa Catarina from 1979 to 1982, and senator for Santa Catarina from 1983 to 1991 and from 1999 to 2007...
, which had been a member of UDN, retired from the presidency of the party to give place to federal deputy Rodrigo Maia, son of César Maia
Cesar Maia
César Epitácio Maia is a Brazilian politician, notable for having been elected three times for mayor of Rio de Janeiro.A native of Rio, born in 1945, Maia was forced to leave Brazil in exile during the 1960s on account of his affiliation with the Brazilian Communist Party...
. The Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
section of the party was taken over by Bornhausen's own son, deputy Paulo Bornhausen. In Bahia, ACM Neto took over the legacy of his grandfather, Antônio Carlos Magalhães
Antônio Carlos Magalhães
Antônio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhães was a Brazilian politician. His paternal grandparents were Portuguese . He served as Governor of Bahia three times and represented Bahia in the Senate of Brazil three times...
.
Electoral performance
| Chamber Chamber of Deputies of Brazil The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms... |
Senate | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Votes | % of votes | % change | Seats | % of seats | Seats change | Votes | % of votes | % change | Seats | % of seats | Total seats |
| 1986 | 8,278,385 | 17.7 | – | 118 | 24.2 | – | – | 7 | 14.3 | |||
| 1990 | 5,026,474 | 12.4 | -5.3 | 83 | 16.5 | -35 | 8 | 25.8 | ||||
| 1994 | 5,873,370 | 12.9 | +0.5 | 89 | 17.3 | +6 | 13,013,277 | 13.5 | 11 | 20.3 | ||
| 1998 | 11,525,100 | 17.3 | +4.4 | 105 | 20.5 | +16 | 7,047,702 | 11.4 | -2.1 | 5 | 18.5 | |
| 2002 | 11,706,253 | 13.4 | -3.9 | 84 | 16.3 | -21 | 28,408,415 | 18.5 | +7.1 | 14 | 25.9 | 19 |
| 2006 | 10,182,308 | 10.9 | -2.5 | 65 | 12.6 | -19 | 21,653,812 | 25.7 | +7.2 | 6 | 22.2 | 18 |
| 2010 | 7,301,171 | 7.6 | -3.3 | 43 | 8.3 | -22 | 10,225,883 | 6.0 | -19.7 | 2 | 3.7 | 6 |
| 1 Percentage of seats up for election that year. 2 Total seats: seats up for election that year plus seats not up for election. Sources: Georgetown University, Election Resources, Rio de Janeiro State University |
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