Podemos (PODE; , ), previously known as the National Labour Party ( pt, Partido Trabalhista Nacional, PTN) is a
Brazilian political party
Brazil has a multi-party system since 1979, when the country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced two-party system and allowed the creation of multiple parties.
Above the broad range of political parties in Brazilian Congress, the Wo ...
which supports
direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
.
Led by the Abreu family (José Masci de Abreu, Dorival de Abreu and Renata Abreu) since its foundation in 1995, the PTN changed its name to Podemos in 2016, but ideologically it differs significantly from the Spanish party
Podemos. The party even claims that the inspiration for its name was not in any other party, but rather in the slogan of
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's campaign "Yes, we can".
In 2018, the party chose Senator
Alvaro Dias as its candidate for the presidency of Brazil.
History
National Labour Party (1995–2016)
The PTN was founded in May 1995, gaining provisional registration in the same year. In 1996, led by former congressman Dorival de Abreu, the party obtained its definitive registration. After the death of Dorival, the party was led by his brother and former congressman José de Abreu. In the
presidential election of 1998 the PTN chose its secretary-general Thereza Ruiz as its candidate; she obtained 166,053 votes.
In the
2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014.
* 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014
Africa
* 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014
* 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014
* 2014 Comorian presi ...
, the PTN elected four congressmen—Bacelar, Renata Abreu (daughter of José de Abreu, and currently the national president of the party), Christiane de Souza Yared and Delegate Edson Moreira—and 14 state deputies. In 2016, several politicians changed their party and some of them joined the PTN, which now has 18 congressmen and 5 senators.
The PTN was the party that had the greatest proportional growth in the
local elections of 2016.
Podemos (2016–present)
In December 2016, the then National Labour Party changed its name and was renamed Podemos. Based on research and consulting studies, the organization was renamed inspired in the chant "Yes, we can" from the
2008 Barack Obama campaign to the presidency.
According to the party's leadership, Podemos was inspired by an international line of movements that propose to listen to people,
defend causes of collective interest
and together decide the future of the nation, a model that claims to leave the old dispute between left or right and chooses to go forward, every day dividing more the country's decisions with the population. Podemos believes it is the answer to a generation that understands that it is not the youth who does not want to know about politics, but this politics that does not know how to talk to the youth. The leadership of Podemos also understands that the party is part of a society that today is mobilized through causes related to people's daily life, contrary to what they consider as stagnant political parties in outmoded models that seek only to remain in power. Podemos arose in a historical context in which the vast majority of Brazilians have no party preference and do not believe in the old political parties and the old politics.
After the JBS plea bargain, Podemos was the first party to leave the allied base of the
Michel Temer
Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...
government on 18 May 2017, also leaving the party bloc of which it integrated alongside
Progressive (PP) and
Labour Party of Brazil (PTdoB) parties and then declaring independence in relation to government. Podemos became represented in the Federal Senate with the affiliation of
Alvaro Dias (ex
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
) and
Romário, who left the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
at the end of June.
In August, the party received the affiliation of José Medeiros (ex Social Democrat), senator by Mato Grosso. In November, Podemos expelled state congressmen who voted to free Jorge Picciani, the president of Alerj, Paulo Melo and Edson Albertassi from the prison, who were the target of Operação Cadeia Velha.
After this episode, Podemos also expelled a congressman that accepted the position of Minister of the Cities in President
Michel Temer
Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...
's cabinet.
In July 2017, the party made an online poll to decide how congresswoman
Renata Abreu
Renata Hellmeister de Abreu (born 15 April 1982) is a Brazilian politician. She is a federal deputy for the state of São Paulo and president of the political party Podemos.
Personal life
Abreu is the daughter of the founder of the Podemos par ...
should vote regarding the complaint of passive corruption against President Temer in the Commission of Constitution and Justice. Later, Podemos made other online polls to decide how their parliament members should vote on welfare reform and the end of legal immunity.
[Podemos faz votação online para decidir votos de deputados]
/ref>
In the 2018 general election, Podemos formed a coalition with the Social Christian Party, the Christian Labour Party and the Progressive Republican Party in support of the candidacy of Alvaro Dias for president. Dias obtained 859,601 votes (0,80%); the party performed well in parliamentary election, electing 11 deputies and one senator. Dias endorsed Bolsonaro in the second round.
On 21 December 2018 the Humanist Party of Solidarity merged into Podemos, increasing its parliamentary representation to 17 deputies and 7 senators and turning Podemos into the third group in the Senate. Podemos later joined Bolsonaro's majority.
Ideology
According to the party's president Renata Abreu
Renata Hellmeister de Abreu (born 15 April 1982) is a Brazilian politician. She is a federal deputy for the state of São Paulo and president of the political party Podemos.
Personal life
Abreu is the daughter of the founder of the Podemos par ...
, Podemos is not about left and right, but forward, with more democracy to together decide the future of the country. In the classical analysis of the political sciences, Podemos is defined as the center, with liberal proposals in the economy as well as distribution and income, when it comes to social development. This ideology, which is based on defending causes, results in three principles, namely transparency, popular participation and direct democracy, to jointly decide the future of Brazil. In this line, Podemos intends to give voice to people who do not feel represented by the current Brazilian political parties.
Podemos believes that the Brazilian people need to know well who they voted for, what they stand for and their decisions. For Podemos, transparency means the right of the population to know what happens in the country and thus avoid corruption. Podemos believes that Brazil needs more popular participation in politics, such as people being part of the governments, in the decisions of their neighborhoods, consultations to help the mayor, suggestions for their cities or collaborating to improve their states and country. The party is known for making online consultations on topics under discussion in the Congress and for committing to present projects that have the signature of at least 20,000 voters. For Podemos, a country is made with the participation of the people, day by day, every day. Among the projects and proposals defended in the agenda, the party presented through its president PEC 185-2015, authored by Renata Abreu, which turns to law the right of access to the internet for each Brazilian citizen, guaranteeing access to information and the possibility of participating in decisions. Podemos also believes that the true definition of the word democracy is to gradually share decision making with the people. The party defends more mechanisms of direct democracy
Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
in Brazil, either through plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s, referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s like the PEC 330/2017 authored by Renata Abreu who proposes that in each election the people can vote in more than candidates, but also in important subjects of interest of most people, popular referendum
A popular referendum (also known, depending on jurisdiction, as citizens' veto, people's veto, veto referendum, citizen referendum, abrogative referendum, rejective referendum, suspensive referendum or statute referendum)Maija SetäläReferendum ...
s as advocated by PEC 331/2017, also by congresswoman Renata Abreu, to include in the constitution the right of the people to veto laws that have already been approved, or recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning
* Recall (memory)
* ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
as proposed by the projects of candidate for the presidency Alvaro Dias (PEC 37/2016) and Renata Abreu (PEC 332/2017), so that the citizen can participate in the decision making, asserting his right to participate directly in the whole democratic process.
After pastor Marco Feliciano
Marco Antônio Feliciano (born 12 October 1972) is a Brazilian politician as well as a pastor, writer, film producer, and theologian. He has spent his political career representing São Paulo, having served as federal deputy representative since 2 ...
and pastor Cabo Daciolo (the latter of whom advocated the transformation of Brazil into a theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy origina ...
) entered PODE in 2018, the party shifted toward a more social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...
direction, although both would leave a few years later to join other parties.
Policies
* End of legal Immunity and other privileges: end to privileges and corruption, reinforced by the bill PEC 333/2017 by Senator Alvaro Dias which aims to end the legal immunity.
* Ensure imprisonment after second instance: against impunity in the country, legitimize the imprisonment in second instance as in the bill filed by Senator Alvaro Dias.
* Transparency in all the public accounts: disclose all government accounts in a transparency portal, including your spending, contracts and budgets, so anyone can see.
* End to compulsory voting: adopt the optional vote in Brazil as proposed by the bill PEC 11/2015, authored by Senator Alvaro Dias.
* Recall Elections: adopt the recall system to revoke the mandate of bad rulers as proposed by Renata Abreu and Alvaro Dias in PEC 37/2016.
* Open a public debt audit of the country: open an application for a public debt audit in Brazil to know the exact financial situation of the country.
* Population guide the vote of its parliament members: create a law so that the voters can decide the votes of the parliamentarians on more important projects.
* Include plebiscites and referendums to each election: at each election include to vote plebiscites or referendums on important issues as proposed by Alvaro Dias on the reduction of the criminal majority.
* Internet access as a right to all the Brazilians: make the internet a right for every Brazilian citizen as proposed by the bill PEC 185-2015, authored by Renata Abreu.
* Defend the population's interest in causes: open to vote the most important causes for the population, so that they can define the priorities of the government.
Leadership
List of current party leaders including House of Representatives and Senate members:
* Renata Abreu
Renata Hellmeister de Abreu (born 15 April 1982) is a Brazilian politician. She is a federal deputy for the state of São Paulo and president of the political party Podemos.
Personal life
Abreu is the daughter of the founder of the Podemos par ...
, congresswoman and president of Podemos
* Alvaro Dias, senator
* Romário, senator
* Oriovisto Guimarães, senator
* José Antonio Medeiros, senator
* Elmano Férrer, senator
* Rose de Freitas, senator
* Adail Carneiro, congressman
* Aluisio Mendes, congressman
* Antônio Jácome, congressman
* Bacelar, congressman
* Cajar Nardes, congressman
* Dâmina Pereira, congresswoman
* Diego Garcia, congressman
* Dr. Sinval Malheiros, congressman
* Ezequiel Cortaz Teixeira, congressman
* Francisco Chapadinha, congressman
* Jozi Araújo, congresswoman
* Laudivio Carvalho, congressman
* Marcelo Ortiz, congressman
* Marco Feliciano
Marco Antônio Feliciano (born 12 October 1972) is a Brazilian politician as well as a pastor, writer, film producer, and theologian. He has spent his political career representing São Paulo, having served as federal deputy representative since 2 ...
, congressman
* Ricardo Teobaldo, congressman
* Roberto de Lucena, congressman
Plan for Brazil
With policies of more transparency, more participation and direct democracy, Podemos aims to pass new bills, elect new leaders and change the country's political system. Whether with a cause in the streets, new laws in the congress, technology to vote through cell phones or with a name like Alvaro Dias to take over the presidency of the country and rebuild the Republic,[Career Politician Eyeing Brazil's Presidency Wants Radical Rupture ]
/ref> Podemos proposal is to gradually end the old politics, end privileges and replace the current system marked by corruption. In ten years, the party wants to leave behind a country marked by scandals to transform Brazil into a more correct, fair and transparent nation that trully represents its population.
Electoral results
Presidential elections
Legislative elections
References
External links
Official website
{{Brazil political parties
1945 establishments in Brazil
Labour parties
Political parties established in 1945
Political parties in Brazil