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In Brazilian politics, the ''Centrão'' ( – ) refers to a group of political parties that do not have a specific or consistent ideological orientation and aim at ensuring proximity to the executive branch in order to guarantee advantages and allow them to distribute privileges through clientelistic networks. Despite its name, the ''Centrão'' is not a centrist political group, generally composed of parliamentarians from the "" and big tent parties, who act according to their own interests, linked to
cronyism Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
and logrolling. Over the years, the ''Centrão'' has become the political kingmaker in Brazil.


History

The term has its origin in the 1987 Constituent Assembly, being used to designate a group of parties with a center-right profile that united to support then-president José Sarney with the objective of fighting the proposals of Ulysses Guimarães' supporters — accused of being progressive — for the text of the new Constitution. Five parties made up the ''Centrão'' at that time: the PFL, PL, PDS, and PTB, as well as parts of the PMDB. The centrist congressmen managed to change the way the text was approved by negotiating support in exchange for positions and benefits. On June 2, 1988, they also managed to approve Sarney's five-year term. The ''Centrão'' would gain prominence again with the formation of the "''blocão''" (big bloc), a group created in 2014 by Eduardo Cunha, then leader of the PMDB, due to the dissatisfaction of the ruling base deputies with President Dilma Rousseff, who paid little attention to political articulation with the parliamentarians. The ''blocão'' brought together eight parties ( PSC, PP, PROS, PMDB, PTB, PR, and
Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
), which totaled 242 congressmen (47% of the Chamber). Cunha's influence over this group of deputies would result in his in first round to the
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
of the Chamber of Deputies in February 2015. The group would become the main political force in the Chamber of Deputies and a grouping for the so-called " BBB Bench". From then on, the ''Centrão'' would play a key role in the
impeachment of Dilma Rousseff The impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, began on 2 December 2015 with a petition for her impeachment being accepted by Eduardo Cunha, then president of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamber of Deputies, and continued int ...
, removed from office in May 2016, and in making important decisions for the . During the impeachment process the group would count on thirteen parties: PP, PR, PSD, PTB, PRB, PSC, PROS, SD,
PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...
, , PHS, PSL, and AVANTE; all of them, except the SD, were part of the base of support to the , and most of them had ministers in the PT governments. In Temer's government, on the other hand, the group would act to block the two criminal charges against the president, avoid a probable removal from office, and approve his reforms through bargaining, such as the distribution of positions and promises of ministries, the release of parliamentary amendments, funds and bills, and other benefits.


2018 elections

In the 2018 elections, the PSDB presidential candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, put together a coalition with parties from the ''Centrão'' to get more time for electoral propaganda. After the elections, one of the parties of the ''Centrão'', the MDB (formerly PMDB), had a reduction in Federal Senate seats. The former president, Eunício Oliveira, came third in
Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...
, Senator Edison Lobão, and former Ministers of Mines and Energy, Garibaldi Alves, former Minister of Tourism, and Romero Jucá did not get reelected. In the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
, with the influence of presidential candidate
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
, the PSL managed to elect 52 federal deputies, which caused a considerable change in the composition of the Chamber. The MDB, until then the leader of the bloc, lost almost half of its seats compared to the 2014 election (from 66 to 34). The centrists have reorganized themselves around the figures of congressman and mayor Rodrigo Maia ( DEM- RJ), majority leader Aguinaldo Ribeiro ( PP- PB), and the leader of the Progressives, congressman Arthur Lira ( PP- AL). In June 2020, Arthur published an article in Folha de S.Paulo describing the ''Centrão'' as a moderating force and a guarantee of institutional predictability and governability. Due to the significant shrinking of the bench, the PSDB (from 54 to 29) is now part of the group, joining the Democrats. In May 2019, the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
banned the use of the name "''Centrão''" on Chamber radio and TV, as it considered the term pejorative.


Members

The following parties have generally been considered to be part of the ''Centrão''.


References


External links


Centrão
- Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil (CPDOC), of FGV {{Portalbar, Brazil, Politics Political history of Brazil Political terminology