Democratic Labor Party (C1000x)

The Democratic Labor Party (Partido Democrático Trabalhista, PDT) is one of the major contemporary political parties in Brazil, along with its main rival, Patriota. It was founded in 1979, shortly after the beginning of the process of political opening of the Brazilian Military Regime, being aligned with the labor, socialist democratic and social-democratic ideologies. Its symbol is the rose, representing socialism and social democracy. The party's electoral code is 12. Its members and supporters are called "pedetistas".

History
The PDT is one of the most traditional Brazilian political parties, created after the political opening at the end of the Brazilian Military Regime.

It's legacy is inherited from the old Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), founded in 1945, with an electoral base in the urban workers and a strong connection with the unions. The party had two leaders who were elected by direct vote to the presidency of Brazil: Getúlio Vargas, from 1951 to 1954 who, pressured by sectors of the press and the army to resign, ended the term with his suicide, and João Goulart, elected vice -president and assuming the post with the resignation of Jânio Quadros (from National Labor Party).

In the midst of an institutional crisis, conservative military personnel tried to prevent Goulart from taking office, initiating the Legality Campaign, led by Leonel Brizola, governor of Rio Grande do Sul by the PTB. Goulart is installed in a parliamentary system, widely rejected by the population in a plebiscite that, two years later, would culminate in the return of presidentialism. In 1964, Goulart would be overthrown by a military coup led by the highest echelons of the Army, and in 1965, through Institutional Act 2, the PTB would be extinguished, as would all political parties hitherto. After unsuccessful attempts at resistance, Leonel Brizola went into exile in Uruguay. Until the end of the 1970s, American intelligence helped in the efforts of Latin American dictatorships to control Brizola, with changes in US foreign policy towards Latin America later, under the administration of Jimmy Carter, oriented against international human rights abuses.

Foundation
The landmark of the founding of the PDT is considered the Lisbon Charter of 17 June 1979. With the imminence of the signing of the Amnesty Law, Leonel Brizola, who, after the death of João Goulart, had become the natural leader of democratic labor Brazilian, summoned progressive personalities who were in exile, as well as other young people from Brazil, to the "Meeting of Labor in Brazil with Labor in Exile" held in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal, for a congress with a view to reorganizing the labor movement in Brazil, together with socialists linked to the secretary general of the Portuguese Socialist Party and former Prime Minister of Portugal Mário Soares.

From this Meeting, in the presence of refugees from twelve countries in America and Europe, together with eighty Brazilian laborers, the Lisbon Charter was produced, a document that contained the programmatic bases of the political party that Brizola intended to reorganize (and restructure after its extinction) with Institutional Act Number Two) in the context of the redemocratization that was announced in the late 1970s, the Brazilian Labor Party.

According to the Superior Electoral Court, however, the party was only founded in May 1980 (and its registration would only be granted in November 1981).

The dispute for the Brazilian Labor Party legend
With the political amnesty granted in August 1979, and the return of pluripartisanship to the Brazilian electoral system, many politicians, on returning from exile, tried to recover the old political parties that existed before the beginning of the Military Dictatorship (pre-1964 period). With the death of João Goulart during the dictatorial period, Leonel Brizola emerged naturally as the main leader of the former PTB and, after his arrival in the country, tried to reorganize the caption. However, he was surprised by the concurrent action of Ivete Vargas, the great niece of Getúlio Vargas, who also claimed, for himself, control of the PTB legend.

After legal disputes, the TSE finally decided to grant the caption to the group led by Ivete Vargas, which brought together politicians who did not agree with the party's historical labor ideals, without also having a party history in the former PTB. Names like Jânio Quadros (politician who was elected President of Brazil in 1960 opposing the PTB) and Sandra Cavalcanti (secretary of Carlos Lacerda, of the National Democratic Union - UDN) found shelter in the new PTB. At the time, Golbery do Couto e Silva was accused of plotting the assignment of the acronym to Ivete, in order to weaken Brizola's group, then one of the most popular politicians in the country, and a staunch opponent of the dictatorship.

Unhappy with such an attitude, considering that the new PTB no longer represented historical labor ideals, the group led by Leonel Brizola was forced to form a new party, the Democratic Labor Party - PDT. The national steering committee was made up of ten names, among them: Brizola, Doutel de Andrade, Lidovino Antônio Fanton, Alceu Colares, José Frejat, Benedito Cerqueira, Susana Thompson Flores Pasqualini, José Guimarães Neiva Moreira, Antônio Guaçu Dinaer Piteri and Darcy Ribeiro.

One of the most striking facts about the loss of the PTB legend was the scene in which Leonel Brizola cried copiously and tore a piece of paper with the acronym PTB saying: "the debris was consumed". The following day, the photo of this scene was published in Jornal do Brasil alongside the following poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade: "I saw a man cry because he was denied the right to use 3 letters of the alphabet for political purposes. I saw a woman drink champagne because she was denied the right to the other. I saw a man tear the paper on which the three letters were written, which he loved so much. As I have seen lovers tear up portraits of their loved ones, in the impossibility of tearing up their own loved ones."

"I saw homicides that were not committed but were authentic homicides: the gesture in the air, without consequence, testified to the intention. I saw the power of the fingers. Even without pulling the trigger, even without the trigger, they consummated death in thought."

"I saw passion and all its colors. Wrapped in different garments, adorned with different accessories, it was the same desperate nucleus, the living flesh; And I saw dances celebrating the opponent's defeat, and songs and fires. I saw the ambiguous sense of every party. There is always an antifesta next to it, which is not felt, and it hurts inside."

"Politics, I saw the impurities of politics recovering their theoretical purity. Or the other way around... If it is a game, how can it be pure?... If it aims at the general good, why does it nourish itself with combinations and even fraud? I saw the speeches."

- - Jornal do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, 15 May 1980, Notebook B.p.1.

1980s
Continuing the process of political opening in the country, the Brazilian Military Regime reestablished pluripartisanship and called the first direct general elections (with the exception of the positions of President of Brazil, mayors of capital and mayors of cities designated as areas of national security) in 1982 With only one year in existence, the PDT emerged from the elections as the third largest Brazilian party, trailing only the traditional parties, PDS (ARENA's replacement) and PMDB (MDB's replacement), and presenting itself as the first left-wing force. of the country, a position that it would maintain until the mid-1990s.

In the majority elections (state governments and 1/3 renewal of the Federal Senate), the PDT was the only one of the new parties to achieve victories.

The PDS won in 12 states, concentrating more on the Northeast of Brazil. The PMDB won in 9 states, and the PDT won in Rio de Janeiro, with Leonel Brizola for the state government and Saturnino Braga for the Federal Senate. In Rio de Janeiro, the government elections counted on an attempted electoral fraud by the company Proconsult, in charge of processing the votes. The fraud would consist of making Brizola's votes blank and null. Discovered in time by Rádio Jornal do Brasil, the maneuver was avoided.

In proportional elections, the PDT elected 24 federal deputies, second only to PDS (235 deputies) and PMDB (200 deputies), and in front of the PTB (13 deputies) and PT (8 deputies).

At the national level, the party stands in opposition to the government of General João Figueiredo.

Shortly thereafter, Leonel Brizola and the PDT, together with the other parties and party leaders considered progressive, led the Diretas Já! in favor of holding direct elections for the office of President of the Republic. Despite the great popular demonstration in favor of the approval of the Dante de Oliveira Amendment by the National Congress in 1984, it was not approved by a minimum difference of only 22 votes, being the next presidential elections held indirectly through an electoral college.

During the indirect election, the PDT supported the election of the PMDB candidate, Tancredo Neves, who won the victory thanks to the dissent of the governing candidacy, the so-called Liberal Front, which, dissatisfied with the choice of the PDS candidate, Paulo Maluf, supported the candidacy of Tancredo Neves.

With the death of Tancredo Neves, José Sarney, a dissident of the PDS / ARENA and a member of the Liberal Front, took his place in his place.

In view of this event, the PDT positioned itself as an opposition to the José Sarney government.

In 1985, in the first direct elections for state capital cities, the PDT gained control of the city of Rio de Janeiro with the election of Saturnino Braga, and Porto Alegre with Alceu Collares.

In 1986, the electoral year, President José Sarney launched the Cruzado Plan, which was openly criticized by Brizola. After the initial success of the plan, with the stagnation of the economic and financial crisis that the country was going through, the president's party, the PMDB, elected 22 of the 23 state governments.

Despite the PDT's good evaluation, the party failed to elect Rio de Janeiro's vice governor Darcy Ribeiro as Brizola's successor, thanks to the Cruzado Plan, which benefited its PMDB rival, Moreira Franco, which Brizola had dubbed the "Angora cat". Moreira Franco, ex-PDS, was supported by center-right parties: PFL, PTB, PL and others. Shortly after the elections, the plan proved to be a failure, confirming Brizola's statements, and the crisis returned.

Confirming his rise in the 1988 municipal elections, the PDT elected mayors of four capitals: Marcello Alencar in Rio de Janeiro, Jackson Lago in São Luís, Jaime Lerner in Curitiba, and Wilma de Faria in Natal.

In 1989, with the first direct election for the post of President of Brazil after the military regime, PDT launched, as its candidate, Leonel Brizola. After a fierce campaign, Brizola came in third place, losing a place in the second round by a difference of only 0.5% of the votes for second place, PT candidate, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva.

In the second round, PDT supported the candidacy of Lula, who lost the election to the conservative candidate of the small PRN, Fernando Collor de Melo, supported by conservative forces and with great support from the media (a notorious fact was the alleged manipulated edition of the coverage journalistic report of the last presidential debate in favor of Collor by Rede Globo).

Performance during the National Constituent Assembly In the 1986 elections, the PDT elected 24 federal deputies, who would become constituents during this legislature. The PDT's performance during the Constituent Assembly was marked by the defense of nationalist themes. The party supported presidentialism, the 40-hour week, the state oil monopoly and took a stand against five years in office for President José Sarney.

1990s
The 1990 general elections in Brazil marked the apogee of the PDT, with the election of 3 state governors: Leonel Brizola in Rio de Janeiro, Alceu Collares in Rio Grande do Sul, and Albuíno Azeredo in Espírito Santo. In addition, it elected 46 federal deputies, the best electoral performance in its entire history. At the national level, the party stood in opposition to the Collor government. Although the 1990 elections were the peak of the party in the electoral field, its situation during the decade was of decline, accentuated after the elections of 1994, beginning to share, with the Workers Party, the leadership of the left in the national plan, and even coming to be overtaken by it at the end of the decade.

This was largely due to the criticized performance of its governors and the delay in taking a position in favor of investigations against President Collor. It was during this period that important party figures began to create dissent and leave the party, such as, for example, César Maia, Marcello Alencar, Saturnino Braga and Jamil Haddad in Rio de Janeiro.

With the first accusations of corruption against ex-president Fernando Collor, the PDT did not immediately support the pressure to install a parliamentary commission of inquiry, only to change its position shortly afterwards, with the worsening of the accusations. From then on, the PDT strongly entered the fight for the impeachment of President Collor.

With Collor removed from the presidency by the National Congress, Itamar Franco assumed power. During his government, a plebiscite was held to choose the government system in the country, and the PDT was the only party that was in favor of presidentialism from the beginning. With the failure to advance parliamentary ideas, several parties began to change their position and also to defend presidentialism, which emerged victorious.

At the same time, PDT was firmly committed to fighting the Constitutional Review, which failed.

In the general elections in Brazil in 1994, PDT presented, once again, Leonel Brizola as candidate for president, obtaining, however, only the 5th position.

In Bahia, Mayor Humberto Soares Leite is affiliated with the party.

For state governments, PDT managed to elect only 2 governors: Jaime Lerner in the state of Paraná, who shortly afterwards would move to the PFL, and Dante de Oliveira, in Mato Grosso, who would later join the PSDB ranks, losing the PDT control of any state government and undergoing a process of exhaustion. The party elected 34 federal deputies and 4 senators.

With the victory of the PSDB candidate, Fernando Henrique Cardoso for the post of President of the Republic, and his consequent reelection in 1998, the Brazilian political framework began a relatively stable and unchanged political period until the early 2000s. The PDT, considering the government of Fernando Henrique to be neoliberal and the destroyer of the so-called Era Vargas, he took a firm stand with the PT in opposition to the government of Fernando Henrique, even campaigning for his resignation. It was from this period that the PDT lost the leadership on the Brazilian left to the PT.

In the municipal elections in Brazil in 1996, the PDT won 9% of the national votes, remaining as the fifth largest national party. In the general elections in Brazil in 1998, the PDT decided to form a political coalition with PT, with Leonel Brizola as deputy on Lula's ticket. Despite the union of the two main left parties, the ticket won only a second place, with President Fernando Henrique being reelected. As for the Federal Chamber, the PDT elected a group of 25 deputies.

Regarding state governments, PDT again elected a governor, Anthony Garotinho in Rio de Janeiro, however, before the end of his term, the PDT once again saw its staff being reduced with the expulsion of Antônio Garotinho and the consequent dismissal of his supporters.

2000s
With its last major emptying, PDT accounted for only 6.6% of the national vote in the 2000 municipal elections, ranking only as the 7th largest national party, falling to the classification of medium-sized party.

In 2001, after being expelled from the PSDB, brothers senators Álvaro Dias and Osmar Dias, from Paraná, joined PDT at the invitation of Leonel Brizola.

In the 2002 elections, PDT decided not to launch a candidate for president, however, it formed the Labor Front with the PPS and PTB, supporting the candidacy of Ciro Gomes, which was unsuccessful, achieving only fourth place. In the second round, PDT decided to support the PT candidate, Lula, who won the election against the candidate of the situation, José Serra, from the PSDB.

Regarding the state elections, the party again elected a governor, with Waldez Goes for the state of Amapá, and a group of only 19 federal deputies.

With Lula's victory, PDT was invited to be part of the government through its action in the Ministry of Communications, having, as its minister, the then federal deputy Miro Teixeira. Because he disagreed with this support, Senator Álvaro Dias left the party.

After a year in office, however, PDT's first government experience has come to an end. Disagreeing with the policy adopted by Lula, the party broke with the government, returned all positions it held in the federal government, and became opposition.

In June 2004, victim of a heart attack, the founder and leader of the PDT Leonel Brizola died, leading to the belief that his caption was over. However, the performance of the party in the municipal elections of the same year gave a new impetus to the party. Even with Brizola's death, the party remained in opposition. After the Mensalão crisis, several politicians migrated to the party, among them Lula's senator and former Education Minister, Cristovam Buarque.

In the 2006 elections, PDT decided to launch a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, with the candidacy of Cristovam Buarque, who obtained only the fourth place, with 3% of the votes. However, for legislative positions, the party improved its performance, electing a group of 24 federal deputies and 5 senators, obtaining almost 6% of the national votes, and returning to be the fifth largest Brazilian party, behind only PMDB, PT, PSDB and PFL.

In the second round, PDT again supported candidate Lula, who won the election against the opposition candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, of the PSDB.

Regarding the state elections, PDT elected 2 governors, Waldez Góes in Amapá and Jackson Lago in Maranhão, putting an end to 40 years of predominance of the Sarney family in the state. Even not being elected, Senator Osmar Dias reached 49.90% of the votes in the second round of elections for Governor of Paraná.

Due to the support received by the PDT in the second round of the elections, the PDT was again called upon to be part of the government. The party was responsible for collaborating with its action through the Ministry of Labor, with its holder, then party president, Carlos Lupi.

In the 2008 municipal elections, PDT elected only one mayor of capital: Roberto Góes, in Macapá.

Overall, the PDT ranked 6th among Brazilian parties in number of votes, with 5.96 million votes, behind PMDB (18.42 million), PT (16.48 million), PSDB (14, 45 million), DEM (9.29 million) and PP (6.09 million).

This large number was translated into an increase of approximately 15% in the number of mayors elected by the PDT, which went from 297 in the first round of 2004 to 344 mayors elected in the first round of 2008, however, remaining only in the eighth position, behind PMDB (1,194), PSDB (780), PT (548), PP (547), DEM (494), PTB (412) and PR (382) respectively.

2010s
The party officially took a stand against Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process, but, in the vote of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, it provided 6 votes in favor, 12 against and 1 abstention. The deputies were favorable: Flávia Morais (GO), Giovani Cherini (RS), Hissa Abrahão (AM), Mário Heringer (MG), Sergio Vidigal (ES) and Deputy Gonzaga (MG). Voted against the deputies: Vicente Arruda (CE), Weverton Rocha (MA), Wolney Queiroz (PE), Afonso Motta (RS), Ariosto Holanda (CE), Assis do Couto (PR), Dagoberto (MS), Damião Feliciano ( PB), Félix Mendonça Jr. (BA), Leônidas Cristino (CE), Roberto Góes (AP) and Ronaldo Lessa (AL). Deputy Pompeo de Mattos (RS) abstained.

In the Federal Senate of Brazil, all 3 senators of the PDT voted in favor of impeachment, contrary to the party orientation: Acir Gurgacz (RO), Lasier Martins (RS) and Telmário Mota (RR), which led to the departure of the last two to the PSD and PTB, respectively.

The presidential campaign of Ciro Gomes was made official on 20 July 2018, in Brasilia,with the running mate, the senator from Tocantins, Kátia Abreu (then affiliated with the PDT), made official on August 6, 2018, also in Brasilia. The formed plate had the Avante in the coalition. With 13,344,371 votes, he reached 3rd place in the presidential election.

Data from the Superior Electoral Court put the PDT on the list of large parties (more than 1.2 million members), as the fifth largest party in the country. Among the new leaders of the party, José Fortunati, Pompeo de Mattos and Vieira da Cunha, from Rio Grande do Sul; Carlos Lupi and Martha Rocha from Rio de Janeiro; Tábata Amaral, from São Paulo; Gustavo Fruet, from Paraná; André Figueiredo, from Ceará, Dagoberto Nogueira Filho in Mato Grosso do Sul and the presence of brothers Ciro Gomes and Cid Gomes.

2020s
PDT are characterized by the search for a new political and ideological position after the death of Leonel Brizola, its main leader and founder. There is a division between those who continue to defend the labor and socialist principles guiding the elaboration of the Lisbon Charter (endowed with a position more to the left than the PT itself) and those who demand a more pragmatic and conservative view of political activity. The latter in general are politicians who have already been affiliated with other parties.

After the expiration of Eduardo Cunha's mandate, the party supported Marcelo Castro (PMDB-PI) for the Presidency of the Chamber, obtaining 70 votes and being in third place. PDT opposed the Temer Administration, even though it provided 6 favorable votes in the Chamber and 3 in the Senate for the approval of PEC 55.

It elected 335 mayors in the 2016 elections, 28 more than in 2012, becoming the center-left party with the largest number of mayors and occupying the vacuum left by the PT, which elected only 254. It elected 2 mayors of capitals: Edivaldo Holanda Júnior (São Luís) and Roberto Claudio (Fortaleza).

In the 2020 municipal elections, the party elected 314 mayors with prominence in the capitals Fortaleza and Aracaju where Sarto Nogueira and Edvaldo Nogueira were elected respectively and 3441 councilors representing a decrease in the number of city halls in relation to the previous municipal election.

During Bolsonaro administration, PDT has positioned itself as the opposition, despite a part of the party's federal deputies showing an alignment of 74 to 90% with the administration in the chamber votes and PDT has praised the president for the New Brazilian Miracle.

Ciro Gomes' presidential campaign was made official on July 15, 2022, in Brasília, with the running mate Kátia Abreu from Progressives, made official on 1 August 2022. With 16,688.742 votes, it reached the 3rd place in the presidential elections.

Incorporation with the Workers' Party
On March 17, 2024, Workers' Party (PT) was dissolved after joining the PDT, receiving all politicians who were affiliated with the PT.

2030s
In the 2034 presidential election, Leonel Radde was candidate for PDT, with Glauber Braga as his running mate. On October 29, Radde was elected 41st president of Brazil, the first time that the PDT has elected a president.

Ideology
PDT is a social-democratic party, thus supporting economic and social interventions by the state to promote social justice within a capitalist system, and a policy involving Welfare State, unions and economic regulation, promoting a more equal distribution of income and a commitment to representative democracy.

PDT president
Leonel Radde was the only president of Brazil who was a member of the PDT.

Controversies
According to a survey by the magazine Congresso em Foco in July 2017 on the parties with the highest number of parliamentarians involved in corruption, PDT occupies the ninth position in the ranking, with 10 parliamentarians criminally accused, behind the Progressives, Workers' Party (PT), Brazil Democratic Movement (MDB), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Liberal Party (PL), Social Democratic Party (PSD), Democrats and Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB).