PSDB nominates Aloysio Nunes as Aécio Neves’s running mate

The Brazilian Social Democracy Party ("PSDB") launched on Monday (Jun 30) Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira as the running mate of fellow Senator and Party President Aécio Neves in the race for the presidency of Brazil. Thus, a ticket has been formed entirely with toucans, as PSDB leaders are called, in reference to their symbol.

At their primary convention on June 14, the party officially announced Neves’s candidacy, approved with 447 votes out of 451 voting representatives, but his running mate was not confirmed at the occasion.

Aloysio Nunes expressed criticism about Dilma Rousseff’s administration, and mentioned that Brazilians want changes in the nation’s political governance. The party’s main flagships have been curbing the inflation and fighting corruption: “Brazil wants to change, wants a different government, a new lease of life, a new push, and Aécio [Neves] has faced up to this wish successfully.”

Neves explained that the decision to choose Senator Nunes, among the other options the party had, was motivated by the latter's coherence. “Aloysio’s exemplary career in public life make our path stronger from now on.”

PSDB’s head in the Senate, Nunes graduated in law from the University of São Paulo and a was granted a master’s degree in Political Science by the University of Paris. In October 2010, he was elected São Paulo senator with over 11 million votes, after a series of terms as a federal deputy.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira de Oliveira