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Political party in Brazil From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Workers' Party (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) is a centre-left[24][25] political party in Brazil that is currently the country's ruling party. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century as social democracy, with the party shifting from a broadly socialist ideology in the 1990s,[5] although the party retains a left-wing[26][27] and marginal far-left faction to this day.[23] Founded in 1980, PT governed at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties from 1 January 2003 to 31 August 2016. After the 2002 parliamentary election, PT became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and the largest in the Federal Senate for the first time.[28] With the highest approval rating in the history of the country at one time, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was PT's most prominent member.[29] Dilma Rousseff, also a member of PT, was elected twice (first on 31 October 2010, and then again on 26 October 2014) but did not finish her second term due to her impeachment in 2016. The party came back to power with Lula's victory in the 2022 presidential election.
Workers' Party Partido dos Trabalhadores | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PT |
President | Gleisi Hoffmann |
Vice President | Washington Quaquá |
Honorary President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva |
Founded | 10 February 1980 |
Registered | 11 February 1982 |
Headquarters | |
Newspaper | Focus Brasil[1] |
Think tank | Fundação Perseu Abramo[2] |
Student wing | Juventude do PT[3] |
Membership (2024) | 1,608,140[4] |
Ideology | |
Political position |
|
National affiliation | Brazil of Hope |
Regional affiliation | São Paulo Forum COPPPAL |
International affiliation | Progressive Alliance[21] |
Colors | Red White |
TSE Identification Number | 13 |
Governorships | 1 / 27 |
Mayors | 180 / 5,570[22] |
Federal Senate | 9 / 81 |
Chamber of Deputies | 69 / 513 |
Mercosur Parliament | 5 / 38 |
State Assemblies | 83 / 1,024 |
City Councillors | 1,675 / 56,810[22] |
Party flag | |
Website | |
pt | |
^ A: A broad left-wing faction, it includes some far-left[23] factions. |
Both born among the opposition to the 1964 coup d'état and the subsequent military dictatorship, PT and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) were the biggest adversaries in contemporary Brazilian politics from 1994 to 2014, with their candidates finishing either first or second on the ballot in each presidential election in that period. The Worker's Party won five presidential elections since the country reinstated democracy, and came in second in every other election held in that time.
The party has been involved in a number of corruption scandals since Lula first came to power and saw its popular support plummet between 2015 and 2020, with presidential approval ratings falling from over 80% to 9%[30] and successive reductions in all elected offices since 2014.[31][32] The 2022 general election marked a turning point in that trajectory.
The party symbols are a five-pointed red star inscribed with the initials "PT" in the center; a red flag with a white star also with the initials in the center; and the Workers Party's anthem.[33] Its Superior Electoral Court (TSE) identification number is 13. Members and sympathisers of the party are known as "Petistas".
The Workers' Party was launched by a heterogeneous group made up of militants opposed to Brazil's military government, trade unionists, left-wing intellectuals and artists and Catholics linked to the liberation theology[34] on 10 February 1980 at Colégio Sion in São Paulo, a private Catholic school for girls.[35] The party emerged as a result of the approach between the labor movements in the ABC Region such as the Conferência das Classes Trabalhadoras (Conclat), later developed into the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) which carried major strikes from 1978 to 1980; and the old Brazilian left-wing, whose proponents, many of whom were journalists, intellectuals, artists and union organizers, were returning from exile with the 1979 Amnesty law, many of them having endured imprisonment and torture at the hands of the military regime[36] in addition to years of exile.[35] Dilma Rousseff herself was imprisoned and tortured by the dictatorship.[37]
PT was born by historical need. PT is not an accident. The future of Brazil goes through a party with the same program as PT, under any name whatsoever, under any leader whomsoever.
— Claudio Solano, journalist
PT was launched under a democratic socialism trend.[38] After the 1964 coup d'état, Brazil's main federation of labor unions, the General Command of Workers (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores – CGT), which gathered leaders approved by the Ministry of Labour since its formation, a practice tied to the fact that since Getúlio Vargas' dictatorship, unions had become quasi-state entities, was dissolved while unions themselves suffered intervention of the military regime.
The resurgence of an organized labour movement, evidenced by strikes in the ABC Region on the late 1970s led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, enabled the reorganization of the labour movement without the direct interference of the state. The movement originally sought to act exclusively in union politics, but the survival of a conservative unionism under the domination of the state (evidenced in the refoundation of CGT) and the influence exercised over the trade union movement by leaders of traditional left-wing parties, such as the Brazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro, PCB), forced the unionist movement of ABC, encouraged by anti-Stalinist leaders, to organize its own party.
PT was officially recognized as a party by the Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court on 11 February 1982.[39] The first membership card belonged to art critic and former Trotskyist activist Mário Pedrosa, followed by literary scholar Antonio Candido and historian Sérgio Buarque de Holanda.[40] Holanda's daughter Ana de Holanda later became Minister of Culture in the Rousseff cabinet.
Since 1988, the Workers' Party has grown in popularity on the national stage by winning the elections in many of the largest Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Goiânia as well as in some important states, such as Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and the Federal District. During the time it governed Porto Alegre, it implemented measures such as a progressive tax reform, involving the rich being taxed more highly to fund basic services for the poor, and the development of new institutions of genuine popular participation which gave, according to one study, "real decision-making power to civil society and involving a large number of civil organizations – from neighbourhood groups to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and from cultural groups to education, health and housing pressure groups – in running the city."[41]
This winning streak culminated with the victory of its presidential candidate Lula in 2002 who succeeded Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB). For its defense of economic liberalism, PSDB is the party's main electoral rival as well as the Democrats, heir of the National Renewal Alliance (Aliança Renovadora Nacional – ARENA), ruling party during the military dictatorship. Along with the Popular Socialist Party (Partido Popular Socialista – PPS), a dissidence of PCB, they have been said to form the centre-right opposition to the Lula administration.
1989 presidential elections
In the 1989 general elections, Lula went to the second round with Fernando Collor de Mello. Even though all centrist and left-wing candidates of the first round united around Lula's candidacy, Collor's campaign was strongly supported by the mass media (notably Rede Globo as seen on the documentary Beyond Citizen Kane) and Lula lost in the second round by a close margin of 5.7%.[42][43]
1994 and 1998 general elections
Leading up to the 1994 general elections, Lula was the leading presidential candidate in the majority of polls. As a result, centrist and right-wing parties openly united for Fernando Henrique Cardoso's candidacy. As Minister of Economy, Cardoso created the Real Plan, which established the new currency and subsequently ended inflation and provided economic stability. As a result, Cardoso won the election in the first round with 54% of the votes. However, it has been noted that "the elections were not a complete disaster for PT, which significantly increased its presence in the Congress and elected for the first time two state governors".[44] Cardoso would once again beat Lula in a rematch and re-elected for a second term in 1998.
2002 general elections
After the detrition of PSDB's image and as a result of an economic crisis that burst in the final years of Cardoso's government, Lula won the 2002 presidential election in the second round.
2006 general elections
On 29 October 2006, PT won 83 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 11 seats in the Federal Senate. Lula was re-elected with more than 60% of the votes, extending his position as President of Brazil until 1 January 2011.[45]
PT was now the second largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the fourth largest party in the Federal Senate and has five state governorships. However, it only gained control of one among the ten richest states (Bahia).
2010 general elections
In the 2010 general elections held on 3 October, PT gained control of 17.15% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a record for the party since 2002. With 88 seats gained, it became the largest party in the lower chamber for the first time ever. PT also became the second largest party in the Federal Senate for the first time after electing of 11 senators, making a total of 14 senators for the 2010–2014 legislature. Its national coalition gained control of 311 seats in the lower house and 50 seats in the upper house, a broad majority in both houses which the Lula administration never had. This election also saw the decrease in the number of seats controlled by the centre-right opposition bloc as it shrank from 133 to 111 deputies. The left-wing opposition, formed by PSOL, retained control of three seats.
The party was also expected to elect its presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff in the first round. However, she was not able to receive the necessary number of valid votes (over 50%) and a second round in which she scored 56% of the votes took place on 31 October 2010. On 1 January 2011, she was inaugurated and thus became the first female head of government ever in the history of Brazil and the first de facto female head of state since the death in 1816 of Maria I, Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
In the 2010 elections, PT retained control of the governorships of Bahia, Sergipe and Acre, in addition to gaining back control of Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District. Nevertheless, it lost control of Pará. Candidates supported by the party won the race in Amapá, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pernambuco, Piauí and Rio de Janeiro, which means that PT would participate in 13 out of 27 state governorships.
2014 general elections
In the 2014 general elections held on 5 October, the party won 13.9% of the vote and 69 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, down from the 88 seats they gained in 2010. In the first round of the presidential election, Rousseff won 41.6% of the vote but not enough to secure a victory.[46] In the run-off on 26 October, Rousseff was re-elected with a narrow victory with 51.6% of the vote against Senator Aécio Neves.
PT enjoyed strong representation in the cabinets it led for most of the time that it was in office. PT held the majority of cabinet positions in the first two coalitions, with its occupation of ministerial positions comprising 60% in the first coalition,[47][48] 54.8% in the second coalition and 46.5% in the third coalition.[49]
Although PT deliberately never identified itself with a particular brand of leftism, it nevertheless "always defined itself as socialist" and espoused many radical positions.[22] For example, at the Brazilian Constituent Assembly of 1988 it advocated repudiation of Brazil's external debt, nationalization of the country's banks and mineral wealth and a radical land reform.[22] In addition, as a form of protest and as a signal that the party did not fully accept the "rules of the game" PT's delegates refused to sign the draft constitution.[22]
Over the next few years, the party moderated a bit, but it never clearly shed its radicalism and undertook no major reforms of party principles even after Lula's defeat in the 1989 presidential elections.[22] For example, the resolution from the party's 8th National Meeting in 1993 reaffirmed PT's "revolutionary and socialist character", condemned the "conspiracy" of the elites to subvert democracy, stated that the party advocated "radical agrarian reform and suspension of the external debt" and concluded that "capitalism and private property cannot provide a future for humanity".[22]
In 1994, Lula ran for the presidency again and during his campaign dismissed Fernando Henrique Cardoso's recently implemented Real Plan as an "electoral swindle".[22] The resolutions from the 1994 National Meeting condemned the "control by the dominant classes over the means of production" and reaffirmed the party's "commitment to socialism".[22] PT's Program of Government that year also committed the party to "anti-monopolist, anti-latifúndio, and anti-imperialist change [...] as part of a long-term strategy to construct an alternative to capitalism", statements that "sent shivers down the spine of the international financial community". Thus, as of 1995 "little or nothing" had changed in PT's official ideology since the early 1990s.[22]
After Lula's 1994 loss, the party began a slow process of self-examination.[22] The resolution adopted at its 10th National Meeting in 1995 stated that "our 1994 defeat invites a cruel reflection about our image in society, about the external impact of our internal battles, [and] about our ideological and political ambiguities".[22] The move from self-examination did not involve a clean break with the past as in other socialist parties after the end of the Cold War.[22] The process was gradual, full of contradictions and replete with intra-party tension.[22] By 1997, the National Meeting resolution redefined PT's version of socialism as a "democratic revolution", emphasizing a political rather than economic vision of socialism that aimed to make the state "more transparent and socially accountable".[22]
Lula's third presidential campaign platform in 1998 cut socialist proposals and even the mention of a transition to a socialist society, but the party's self-definition remained highly ambiguous as the resolution from the party's Meeting that year affirmed that Lula's platform "should not be confused with the socialist program of PT".[22] Thus, while PT had begun to distance itself from its original socialist rhetoric and proposals by 1998, a clearer shift did not occur until after Lula lost again that year and after Lula and his group had more fully digested the impact of Brazil's changing political context and of Cardoso's economic reforms.[22]
During Lula's fourth presidential run in 2002, the transition away from overt left-wing policies was fully cemented, and in a document known as the Letter to the Brazilian People, Lula committed himself and his party to the reform of taxes and pensions, and to promoting economic growth.[50] He also accepted some of the liberal reforms from the Cardoso government, meaning that the party program was now de facto centre-left and social democratic in its ideology. Lula won the 2002 election in a landslide. However, some of the more left-wing factions of the party were critical of this turn toward the center and later left to form new left-wing parties like the Socialism and Liberty Party.
The party has a strong left-wing Catholic faction, and the Catholic left is considered the leading force behind the creation of the party, together with the Marxist left and 'new unionism'. Catholic grassroots communities known as CEBs became widespread in Brazil and became the backbone of organization development of the PT in rural peripheries and rural areas, where the party relied on its Catholic faction to provide structural network. Whereas the party was considered a 'vehicle' for social change, supportive Catholic communities were "gasoline stations". The socialism of PT appealed to the Brazilian Catholic left, who was heavily influenced by liberation theology and believed that Marxism and Political Catholicism complemented one another. One of pro-PT Catholic priests, Frei Betto, declared in 1986: "A real Christian is a communist, and a real communist a Christian."[51]
Thanks to its large grassroots base, the Catholic left allowed PT to expand en masse and influenced the ideology of the party, as the Catholic factions provided meeting places for PT nuclei and engaged in "political consciousness-raising" amongst the rural population. Because of this, the pastoral work of the Catholic Church is considered to have been "fundamental for the PT's achieving a truly national character". One of the co-founders of PT, Hamilton Pereira, wrote that thanks to its Catholic origins, the party "became a party that [brought] along the various expressions of Brazil". Lula also stated several times that the Catholic left played a more important role in the PT than trade unions.[51] The Workers' Party was the only party in Brazil able to develop such close relations with the Catholic Church.[17]
The PT is also influenced by liberation theology, considered an important factor in the creation of the party.[20] Peter Flynn in the Third World Quarterly wrote that the party is closely linked to liberation theology, and its liberation Catholic faction was an important contribution towards the party's victory in the 2002 Brazilian general election.[19] The liberation theology faction of the party is also regularly included in the party's cabinet appointment. Liberationist bishop Mauro Morelli served as president of the National Council for Food Security, and later became a political advisor of Lula. The PT mayor and Catholic lawyer Patrus Ananias became famous through his administration in Belo Horizonte, which became distinguished for its church-coordinated work against hunger and poverty. Liberation theologist Frei Betto also served as Lula's special adviser, and the faction also played a crucial role in the education policy of the party and the 2010 anti-corruption "clean slate" law.[18] Major liberation theology figures such as Leonardo Boff became supporters of the party.[52] The PT's close relationship with Brazil's progressive Catholic Church continues to influence the rherotic of the party, with its politicians referring concepts from liberation theology.[53]
Election | Candidate | Running mate | Coalition | First round | Second round | Result | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
1989 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) | José Paulo Bisol (PSB) | PT; PSB; PCdoB | 11,622,673 | 16.1% (#2) | 31,076,364 | 47.0% (#2) | Lost |
1994 | Aloizio Mercadante (PT) | PT; PSB; PCdoB; PPS; PV; PSTU | 17,122,127 | 27.0% (#2) | – | – | Lost | |
1998 | Leonel Brizola (PDT) | PT; PDT; PSB; PCdoB; PCB | 21,475,211 | 31.7% (#2) | – | – | Lost | |
2002 | José Alencar (PL) | PT; PL; PCdoB; PMN; PCB | 39,455,233 | 46.4% (#1) | 52,793,364 | 61.3% (#1) | Elected | |
2006 | José Alencar (PRB) | PT; PRB; PCdoB | 46,662,365 | 48.6% (#1) | 58,295,042 | 60.8% (#1) | Elected | |
2010 | Dilma Rousseff (PT) | Michel Temer (PMDB) | PT; PMDB; PR; PSB; PDT; PCdoB; PSC; PRB; PTC; PTN | 47,651,434 | 46.9% (#1) | 55,752,529 | 56.1% (#1) | Elected |
2014 | PT; PMDB; PSD; PP; PR; PDT; PRB; PROS; PCdoB | 43,267,668 | 41.6% (#1) | 54,501,118 | 51.6% (#1) | Elected | ||
2018 | Fernando Haddad (PT) | Manuela d'Ávila (PCdoB) | PT; PCdoB; PROS | 31,341,997 | 29.3% (#2) | 47,040,380 | 44.8% (#2) | Lost |
2022 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) | Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) | PT; PCdoB; PV; PSOL; REDE; PSB; Solidariedade; Avante; Agir | 57,259,405 | 48.4% (#1) | 60,325,504 | 50.9% (#1) | Elected |
Source: Election Resources: Federal Elections in Brazil – Results Lookup |
Election | Chamber of Deputies | Federal Senate | Status | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | ||
1982 | 1,458,719 | 3.5 | 8 / 479 |
8 | 1,538,786 | 3.6 | 0 / 25 |
Opposition | |
1986 | 3,253,999 | 6.9 | 16 / 487 |
8 | – | – | 0 / 49 |
Opposition | |
1990 | 4,128,052 | 10.2 | 35 / 502 |
19 | – | – | 1 / 31 |
1 | Opposition |
1994 | 5,959,854 | 13.1 | 49 / 513 |
14 | 13,198,319 | 13.8 | 4 / 54 |
3 | Opposition |
1998 | 8,786,528 | 13.2 | 58 / 513 |
9 | 11,392,662 | 18.4 | 7 / 81 |
3 | Opposition |
2002 | 16,094,080 | 18.4 | 91 / 513 |
33 | 32,739,665 | 21.3 | 14 / 81 |
7 | Coalition |
2006 | 13,989,859 | 15.0 | 83 / 513 |
8 | 16,222,159 | 19.2 | 10 / 81 |
4 | Coalition |
2010 | 16,289,199 | 16.9 | 88 / 513 |
5 | 39,410,141 | 23.1 | 15 / 81 |
5 | Coalition |
2014 | 13,554,166 | 14.0 | 68 / 513 |
20 | 15,155,818 | 17.0 | 12 / 81 |
3 | Coalition (2014–2016) |
Opposition (2016–2018) | |||||||||
2018 | 10,126,611 | 10.3 | 56 / 513 |
12 | 24,785,670 | 14.5 | 6 / 81 |
6 | Opposition |
2022 | 15,354,125[a] | 13.9 | 69 / 513 |
13 | 12,456,553 | 12.2 | 9 / 81 |
3 | Coalition |
Sources: Georgetown University, Election Resources, Rio de Janeiro State University |
According to a poll conducted by IBOPE on 31 October 2010, during the second round voting PT's candidate Dilma Rousseff had an overwhelming majority of votes among the poorest Brazilians.[54] Her lead was of 26% among those who earned a minimum wage or less per month.[54] Rousseff also had the majority of votes among Catholics (58%), blacks (65%) and mixed-race Brazilians (60%).[54] Amongst whites and Protestants, she was statistically tie to José Serra and her lead was of only 4% on both demographic groups.[54] Even though she was the first female candidate in a major party, her votes amongst men was wider than amongst women.[54]
The changes in the political orientation of PT (from a left-wing socialist to a centre-left social-democratic party) after Lula was elected president were well received by many in the population, but as a historically more radical party, the PT has experienced a series of internal struggles with members who have refused to embrace the new political positions of the party. These struggles have fueled public debates, the worst of which had its climax in December 2003, when four dissident legislators were expelled from the party for voting against Social Insurance Reform.[55] Among these members were congressman João Batista Oliveira de Araujo (known as Babá) and senator Heloísa Helena, who formed the Socialism and Liberty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade − PSOL) in June 2004 and ran for president in 2006, becoming at the time the woman who had garnered the most votes in Brazilian history.
In another move, 112 members of the radical wing of the party announced they were abandoning PT in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre on 30 January 2005. They also published a manifesto entitled Manifesto of the Rupture that states that PT "is no longer an instrument of social transformation, but only an instrument of the status quo", continuing with references to the International Monetary Fund and other economic and social issues.
This scandal, called the BANCOOP case, included João Vaccari Neto and four other directors of the housing cooperative. The cooperative received government contracts and had multi-million real revenue. The cooperative was found to have illegally padded the service contracts by 20%, with many of the contracts going unfulfilled. The cooperative eventually folded with a deficit of over R$100 million, requiring liquidation of assets to minimize the loss by members.
This scandal unfolded around September 2006, just two weeks before general elections. As a result, Berzoini left the coordination of Lula's re-election after allegedly using PT's budget (which is partially state-funded through party allowances) to purchase, from a confessed fraudster, a dossier that would be used to attack political adversaries. On 25 April 2007, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal unanimously cleared Lula of any responsibility for this scandal.[56]
In July 2005, members of the party suffered a sequence of corruption accusations, started by a deputy of the Brazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro – PTB), Roberto Jefferson.[57] Serious evidence for slush funding and bribes-for-votes were presented, dragging PT to the most serious crisis in its history, known colloquially as the Mensalão. José Genoíno resigned as president of the party and was replaced by Tarso Genro, former mayor of Porto Alegre. A small minority of party members defected as a result of the crisis. Most of them went to PSOL.
This section needs to be updated. (April 2021) |
The investigation of a series of crimes, such corruption and money laundering, led to the arrest of the party's treasurer João Vaccari Neto and his sister-in-law. José Genoino, José Dirceu, Delcídio do Amaral, André Vargas and Delúbio Soares were also arrested in the process. Most recently, former President Lula was arrested in April 2018.[58] However, in March 2021, the Supreme Federal Court overturned all the convictions.[59] This came after leaks which suggested that Judge Sérgio Moro had conspired with the prosecution.[60]
Since its inception the party has been led by the following:
There are about thirty factions (tendências) within PT, ranging from Articulação, the centre-left group that Lula is a part of, to Marxists and Christian socialists.
Considered the right-wing of the party, i.e. going from centre to centre-left.
Its members are known as petistas, from the Portuguese acronym PT.
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