Doria, Moro Rattle Brazil Election Chess With 25th-Hour Moves

(Bloomberg) -- Joao Doria and Sergio Moro, two of the main names hoping to break the left-right polarization in Brazil’s upcoming presidential elections, are trying to reset their candidacies with last-minute moves after months of struggling in voter polls.

Doria is planning to withdraw from the race, remaining in his post as the governor of Sao Paulo, Folha de S.Paulo reported without saying how it got the information. The decision, which is said to have rattled allies, is expected to be formalized this afternoon. Doria, who canceled appearances at several events on Thursday, has a press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. local time. 

While some reports in local media question if Doria will go through with the move, alleging it’s a final attempt at rallying party support around him, his exit could open a path for the candidacy of Eduardo Leite. Earlier this week, Leite stepped down as the governor of Rio Grande do Sul in hopes he could reverse the PSDB’s decision to have Doria as a presidential candidate.

Brazil Governor Leite Resigns Eyeing Possible Presidential Run

Meanwhile, former Justice Minister Moro decided to leave the Podemos party, which he joined just months ago. Moro, who as the head of a task force that jailed some of the country’s top politicians and businessmen, saw his popularity begin to decline once he joined Jair Bolsonaro’s government. His departure after fighting with his boss did further damage, and Moro has failed to climb beyond 10% in voter polls. 

Moro will join Uniao Brasil, a person with direct knowledge of his thinking said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Uniao Brasil is seen as having more resources, TV time for political ads and a better structure across states for Moro’s candidacy, the person said, though it’s not clear if he’ll stick to his plans of running for the country’s top job. The decision will be announced soon, the person added. 

Brazil’s election law states in order to run in the October elections, candidates must be part of a political party and leave government positions they currently occupy -- except the presidency -- six months ahead of the vote.  

Cabinet shuffle

President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed several changes in his cabinet as ministers depart to run for office themselves in October general elections. Teresa Cristina will be replaced by Marcos Cordeiro at the Ministry of Agriculture and Tarcísio de Freitas by Marcelo Sampaio at the Infrastructure Ministry, among others. 

Bolsonaro also changed the military leadership by choosing Braga Netto as vice-president in his ticket, says Estado. 

Civil Servants

Brazil’s government is considering granting a 5% pay increase to civil servants to help make up for inflation losses, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. 

The increases, which would come into effect in July, would have a fiscal impactof about 5 billion reais ($1 billion) this year and 10 billion reais in 2023, the people said. Since the government only has about 1.7 billion reais earmarked for civil servant adjustments, it would need to cut other expenditures to fit the extra cost in the spending cap, and send a bill to Congress to adjust next year’s budget.

Brazil Mulls Giving Rebelling Civil Servants 5% Pay Raise

The blanket raise is one of the possibilities being discussed and no final decision has been made, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. 

Covid

Brazil recorded a total of 33,937 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Health Ministry. The country’s coronavirus death toll rose by 263 in the last 24 hours to 659,504.

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