Over 40% of Chamber of Deputies changed after elections

As a result of the elections held last Sunday (Oct 9), over 40% of Brazil's federal deputies will be redefined at the next legislative period. Another novelty is the admission of six new parties in January 2005. Thus, the number of political parties with representation goes from 22 to 28. The change is likely to see the country's new head of state struggling to approve bills at the Chamber of Deputies, especially those related to reforms and the rights of more vulnerable populations.

“Parties have been pulverized, and governability will become more difficult,” argues political analyst Antonio Augusto de Queiroz, from the Inter-Union Department of Parliamentary Consultancy (Diap). “The big parties shrank and the small- and medium-sized ones expanded. This will force the president to negotiate with them, which are not supported by any program or ideological issues,” he warned.

Following the elections, the Workers' Party (PT), of which incumbent and candidate Dilma Rousseff is a member, lost quite a few chairs, but still boasts the largest number of posts at the Chamber—70 deputies, against the current 88 congressmen. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) was also seen to lose some of its representatives—today's 71 is due to fall to 66 deputies, but its position as second best-represented remains.

On the other hand, the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), the party of presidential candidate and Rousseff's challenger in the second-round runoff Aécio Neves, has managed to increase the number of its congressmen from 44 to 54 at the Chamber.

The force of small and medium parties will emerge if they take action in cooperation. “If they form an alliance, they can easily prevail over the big ones. The outcome is that the possibility of reforms, especially that of the Political Reform, is reduced, because these parties may find it harmful to themselves; they may see themselves prevented from being elected in the next polls,” Queiroz argued.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira