Eduardo Campos's substitute to be appointed Monday
Former Senator Marina Silva is Eduardo Campos's most likely substitute
Leaders of the Brazilian Socialist Party ("PSB") are expected to meet next Monday (Aug 18) in Recife in order to determine who is to take Eduardo Campos’s place and run for president in the upcoming elections. Campos died on Tuesday (13) in an air crash that killed seven people altogether.
“The meeting has been confirmed. If the burial is held on Sunday, we’ll gather on Monday, here in Recife, since the entire country is here,” Deputy and PSB member Gonzaga Patriota told Agência Brasil. He argues that the choice of a new name is pending approval from the commissions of the six parties that make up the coalition "United for Brazil", which supported Campos’s candidacy.
A date for the burial of the victims remains uncertain, as the bodies have been considerably deformed in the accident. The remains that were taken to the Forensic Institute (“IML”) of Santos, the coastal town where the crash occurred, were cleaned and cataloged for subsequent DNA tests. Genetic material from living family members is also being used in the identification. IML announced that as soon as the genetic identity of the bodies has been ascertained, official reports will be issued and the corpses released to the families.
Among the fatalities are advisor Pedro Valadares, journalist Carlos Percol, cameraman Marcelo Lira, photographer Alexandre Severo, and pilots Marcos Martins and Geraldo da Cunha, aside from Campos.
Marina Silva a likely substitute
Deputy Patriota showed support for the appointment of former Senator Marina Silva, Campos’s running mate: “I can’t speak on behalf of the party, but I do believe that, when we choose someone as running mate, as Eduardo did Marina, I don’t see why designating Marina as the substitute shouldn’t be a priority.”
In the view of the congressman, Marina Silva represents the party’s most workable solution. In compliance with the norms set by the Electoral Court, in case of death, the parties must name a substitute for its candidate within ten days’ time. The legislation recommends a member of the same party for the substitution, which is Marina Silva's case. However, the coalition may act differently if it so wishes. According to the Superior Electoral Court (“TSE”), the replacement should be effected by the vote of the absolute majority of the coalition’s board of directors.
João Lyra Neto, the current governor of Pernambuco and also one of PSB’s leaders, believes that the party should once again elect its own candidate, and that Marina Silva “is a great name.” He says his party has been working to two deadlines: the legal one and the political one: “The legal deadline is in ten days, and, as for the political one, we must be aware that the [daily] electoral program [on radio and television] starts on the 19th,” he remarked.
Campaigning suspended
Most presidential candidates have halted their campaigns on account of Eduardo Campos's death. Candidates running for other positions who were near to Campos decided to act likewise.
TSE President Dias Toffoli, however, has turned down the request of the Green Party’s presidential candidate Eduardo Jorge to postpone the beginning of the electoral propaganda on radio and television, slated to begin on Tuesday (19).
According to Eduardo Jorge, the postponement would be necessary to allow Eduardo Campos’s coalition to adapt the programs to be aired to the new reality. “This way we’d be given the necessary interval to start the political debate that’s crucial to our democracy,” he argued.
As part of his response to Eduardo Jorge, Toffoli stated that putting off the beginning of the political advertisement upon the individual request of a candidate is not possible, “because the matter is settled by electoral legislation, and not by the will of the Electoral Court”.
Carolina Gonçalves, Elaine Patricia Cruz, Fernanda Cruz and André Richter contributed to this article.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Eduardo Campos's substitute to be appointed Monday
