Costa will be at the head of the PT for four months in place of Gleisi Hoffmann, appointed head of the Secretariat of Institutional Relations.
This portfolio heads the political articulation of the Government with the National Congress.
“The strongest name remains that of Lula. For 2026, he is a candidate. Until 2030, a lot of water will still roll. We have governors, ministers, mayors who will be in a position to contest elections,” said the senator during an interview with the newspaper O Globo.
He clarified that his mandate is temporary and that he does not intend to remain in office after July, when the internal direct elections of the party will be held.
Regarding the PT’s strategy to contain the influence of the extreme right in the National Congress, he explained that the PT’s Electoral Working Group will act in the election of candidates for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
He pointed out that the political organization is willing to give up its own candidacies in some states to support allies of the so-called Centrão (center trend), in order to guarantee greater governability.
“The names will be handpicked in each state. In some places, we will give up the candidacies to obtain the support of other parties,” he said.
Regarding a possible tussle with the former mayor of the municipality of Araraquara (Sao Paulo) Edinho Silva for the leadership of the PT, he responded that he will support any name indicated by Lula to lead the party.
Regarding Lula’s falling popularity, according to polls, he predicted that the progressive leader will reap the fruits of his administration in this third year of government and in 2026 he will have enough support for an electoral campaign.
The PT was founded by a heterogeneous group of militants opposed to the military dictatorship (1964-1985), trade unionists, intellectuals, artists and Catholics linked to Liberation Theology, on February 10, 1980, at Sion College, in Sao Paulo.
It was the result of the rapprochement between the trade union movements of the ABC region of Sao Paulo, which undertook large strikes between 1978 and 1980.
Since its creation, the party, the largest left-wing party in Latin America, assumed the defense of democratic socialism. Throughout its 45 years of existence, the PT has left a deep mark on the national political scene, symbolizing the struggle for social inclusion, redistributive justice and the active participation of the popular sectors.
The growing polarization in Brazil currently requires the party to make an effort to recover spaces for dialogue and consensus.
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