PT, PSDB, PMDB, PSB, PSC, PV, PSOL, PSDC, PSTU, PRTB, PCB,
PCO…. Too much P P P Politics! Watching Jornal Nacional on Globo has been a
challenge over the last few months.
Learning Portuguese is challenging at the best of times but during a
general election, it enters a new level.
There appear to be a million political parties, all beginning with ‘P’
(for ‘Partido…’) and keeping track of them all appears nigh on impossible,
especially when reporters seem to build sentences consisting of no words other
than abbreviations and the occasional ‘and’! How does anyone pick a political party?
On the simplest level, this is how it works…
Brazil elects a new president every four years by absolute
majority – one person, one vote and each vote counts. If no candidate achieves greater than 50% of
the vote, it goes to a second round run-off election between the two candidates
with the highest number of votes. During
this second round, the parties of the two candidates attempt to woo supporters
of the other candidates, as well as seeking the endorsement of these candidates
themselves.
 |
| Electronic Voting Machine |
Every Brazilian between the ages of 18 and 70 is obliged to
vote; 16 and 17 year olds and those over 70 may vote if they wish, but they are
not obliged. Voting is done completely
electronically, using voting machines that were first introduced in 1996. These machines are installed in polling
stations around the country and perform three functions: identify the voter,
ensure secure voting and tallying the votes.
This means that by the end of the polling day, the results are already
known.
 |
| Incumbent, Dilma Rousseff |
In 2014, Dilma Rousseff, the incumbent from PT (Partido dos
Trabalhadores – Worker’s Party) won the most votes – 41.59% of the electorate –
and Aécio Neves from PSDB (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – Brazilian
Social Democracy Party) came second with 33.55% of the votes. A third candidate, Marina Silva from PSB (Partido
Socialista Brasileiro – Brazilian Socialist Party) was eliminated from the
election when she came in third place with 21.32% of the votes. A further
eight candidates were also
eliminated, with neither of them winning more than 2% of the votes. |
| Candidate Aécio Neves |
The second round brings comfort to those of us suffering
from abbreviation-stress (just me?) as the majority of the discussions centre
around the two remaining candidates and their campaigns. Around this point, the candidates appear to
lose their surnames; no more Dilma Rousseff from PT and Aécio Neves from PSDB –
it’s just Dilma and Aécio. As soon as
the first round results are in, the new campaigns begin in earnest. Aécio is pursuing a
policy of change and reduction in corruption – after 12 years of PT occupying
the highest office of the country – and has successfully gained the endorsement
of Marina Silva. If everyone that votes
for her in the previous round votes for Aécio, then he will take office. Dilma, somewhat perversely, also talks about
change and reduction in corruption – an unusual stance considering the amount
of corruption scandals that have surfaced during the tenure of PT!
The second round run-off election takes
place on Sunday 26th October.
