PSD confirms Paes as candidate for RJ government

Paes' main eventual competitor, the PL ticket, headed by state deputy Douglas Ruas, lost this Sunday (19) the pre-candidate for vice-president Rogério Lisboa (PP), who announced his departure.

Before having Jane Reis on the ticket, Paes had Rogério Lisboa, former mayor of Nova Iguaçu, as the most likely to be vice president. The PP said, in a statement, that Lisbon's departure from the PL ticket was a strictly personal decision.

Behind the scenes, the departure involves the lack of rapprochement between the PP leader in the state, federal deputy Dr. Luizinho (RJ), and the Ruas ticket. Luizinho, according to sources, preferred to compose with Paes, but followed the decision of the party's national president, senator Ciro Nogueira (PI).

Candidates for PP deputies were allowed to join Eduardo Paes. There is a chance that the União-Progressistas federation will adopt neutrality.

"I never hid my relationship with several PP officials, especially Rogério Lisboa", said Paes after the convention. "We want to add the good forces of the state to our alliance. Whatever I can do to have them by my side on this ticket, I will do."

Still without a pre-candidate for vice-president defined, the PL of Rio de Janeiro will hold a convention next Friday (24).

The convention was attended by 16 representatives from city halls across the state, including the capital. The search for alliances in the interior of Rio de Janeiro has been a focus of Paes since before the announcement of the pre-candidacy for the Guanabara Palace.

The convention also made official the candidacy of federal deputy Pedro Paulo (PSD-RJ) for the Senate. The list is complemented by the PT pre-candidate for the Senate, Benedita da Silva.

The PSD will have 47 candidates for federal deputy and 71 candidates for state deputy.

The October election will be Paes' third attempt to become state government. He ran in 2006, when former governor Sérgio Cabral (then PMDB) was elected for the first time, and in 2018, when he was defeated in the second round by Wilson Witzel (then in the PSC).

The former mayor of Rio told journalists that the Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) was taken over "by a majority of criminals", remembering that, until last year, the main competitor in the dispute for the state government was the former president of the House, Rodrigo Bacellar (União), arrested on charges of leaking information to those linked to Comando Vermelho.

"My opponent in this election, if it weren't for the PF's action, would be Rodrigo Bacellar. He was equal to Governor Cláudio Castro. He was the leader of this group that is supporting another candidacy. If he hadn't been arrested, he would be facing me right now. Unfortunately - it's not all of it, there are a lot of serious state representatives - but the legislative assembly was taken over by a majority of criminals", he said.

The electoral dispute in Rio de Janeiro has been impacted by recent operations by the Federal Police. Then a pre-candidate for the Senate on the Bolsonarist flank, the former mayor of Belford Roxo Marcio Canella (União) was the target of action by the PF on suspicion of money laundering, and was even arrested for illegal possession of a weapon.

In June, Washington Reis and Jane Reis were search and seizure targets by the PF. According to the PF, "it was found that those investigated maintain their own assets in the name of third parties, carry out expenses that are incompatible with their financial condition and participate in negotiations linked to properties."

Jane said, in a statement at the time, that "she is not named in the investigation and remains at the disposal of the authorities." Washington said that it has already presented documents to the PF to demonstrate the absence of illegality in the acts investigated.

The investigation investigates the crimes of criminal organization, bid fraud and money laundering. Lawyer, Jane Reis (MDB), is managing partner of the company that controls properties owned by her brother, Washington Reis.

Washington, Jane and the current mayor of Duque de Caxias, Netinho Reis (MDB), were at the convention. The Reis family has an affinity with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and welcomed him to the city in the 2024 municipal elections.

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