Workers' Party Partido dos Trabalhadores | |
|---|---|
_logo_2021.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | PT |
| President | Edinho Silva |
| Vice President | Washington Quaquá |
| Honorary President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva |
| Founded | February 10, 1980; 46 years ago (1980-02-10) |
| Registered | February 11, 1982; 44 years ago (1982-02-11) |
| Headquarters | |
| Newspaper | Focus Brasil[1] |
| Think tank | Fundação Perseu Abramo[2] |
| Student wing | Juventude do PT[3] |
| Membership(2024) |  1,653,361[4] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | |
| National affiliation | Brazil of Hope |
| Regional affiliation | São Paulo Forum COPPPAL |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance[26] |
| Colors | Red White |
| TSE Identification Number | 13 |
| Governorships | 4 / 27 |
| Mayors | 252 / 5,570 |
| Federal Senate | 9 / 81 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 67 / 513 |
| Mercosur Parliament | 7 / 38 |
| State Assemblies | 118 / 1,024 |
| City Councillors | 3,130 / 56,810 |
| Party flag | |
.svg) | |
| Website | |
| pt | |
^ A: A broad left-wing faction, it includes somefar-left[27] factions. | |
TheWorkers' Party (Portuguese:Partido dos Trabalhadores,PT) is acentre-left[28][29]political party inBrazil that is currently the country's ruling party. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century associal democracy, with the party shifting from a broadlysocialist ideology in the 1990s,[5] although the party retains aleft-wing[30][31] and marginal far-left faction to this day.[27] Founded in 1980, PT governed at the federal level in acoalition government with several other parties from January 1, 2003, to August 31, 2016. After the2002 parliamentary election, PT became the largest party in theChamber of Deputies and the largest in theFederal Senate for the first time.[32] With the highest approval rating in the history of the country at one time, PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva was PT's most prominent member.[33]Dilma Rousseff, also a member of PT, was elected President twice (first on October 31, 2010, and then again on October 26, 2014) but did not finish her second term due toher impeachment in 2016. The party came back to power with Lula's victory in the2022 presidential election.
The party has been involved in anumber of corruption scandals since Lula first came to power and saw its popular support plummet between 2015 and 2020, with presidential approval ratings falling from over 80% to 9%[34] and successive reductions in all elected offices since 2014.[35][36] The2022 general election marked a turning point in that trajectory.
The party symbols are a five-pointedred star inscribed with the initials "PT" in the center; ared flag with a white star also with the initials in the center; and the Workers Party's anthem.[37] ItsSuperior Electoral Court (TSE) identification number is 13. Members and sympathisers of the party are known as "Petistas".
The Workers' Party was launched by a heterogeneous group made up of militants opposed to Brazil's military government, trade unionists, left-wing intellectuals and artists and Catholics linked to theliberation theology[38] on February 10, 1980, at Colégio Sion inSão Paulo, a private Catholic school for girls.[39] The party emerged as a result of the approach between the labor movements in theABC Region such as the Conferência das Classes Trabalhadoras (Conclat), later developed into theCentral Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) which carried major strikes from 1978 to 1980; and the old Brazilian left-wing, whose proponents, many of whom were journalists, intellectuals, artists and union organizers, were returning from exile with the 1979 Amnesty law, many of them having endured imprisonment and torture at the hands of the military regime[40] in addition to years of exile.[39]Dilma Rousseff herself was imprisoned and tortured by the dictatorship.[41]
PT was born by historical need. PT is not an accident. The future of Brazil goes through a party with the same program as PT, under any name whatsoever, under any leader whomsoever.
— Claudio Solano, journalist
PT was launched under ademocratic socialism trend.[42] After the1964coup d'état, Brazil's main federation of labor unions, the General Command of Workers (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores – CGT), which gathered leaders approved by theMinistry of Labour since its formation, a practice tied to the fact that sinceGetúlio Vargas'Estado Novo, unions had become quasi-state entities, was dissolved while unions themselves suffered intervention of the military regime.
The resurgence of an organized labour movement, evidenced by strikes in theABC Region, organized by various unions including theABC Metalworkers' Union, on the late 1970s led byLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, enabled the reorganization of the labour movement without the direct interference of the state. The movement originally sought to act exclusively in union politics, but the survival of a conservative unionism under the domination of the state (evidenced in the refoundation of CGT) and the influence exercised over the trade union movement by leaders of traditional left-wing parties, such as theBrazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro, PCB), forced the unionist movement of ABC, encouraged byanti-Stalinist leaders, to organize its own party.
PT was officially recognized as a party by theBrazilian Supreme Electoral Court on February 11, 1982.[43] The first membership card belonged to art critic and formerTrotskyist activist Mário Pedrosa, followed by literary scholarAntonio Candido and historianSérgio Buarque de Holanda.[44] Holanda's daughter Ana de Holanda later becameMinister of Culture in the Rousseff cabinet.
Since 1988, the Workers' Party has grown in popularity on the national stage by winning the elections in many of the largest Brazilian cities, such asSão Paulo,Fortaleza,Belo Horizonte,Porto Alegre andGoiânia as well as in some important states, such asRio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and theFederal District. During the time it governedPorto Alegre, it implemented measures such as a progressive tax reform, involving the rich being taxed more highly to fund basic services for the poor, and the development of new institutions of genuine popular participation which gave, according to one study, "real decision-making power to civil society and involving a large number of civil organizations – from neighbourhood groups to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and from cultural groups to education, health and housing pressure groups – in running the city."[45]
This winning streak culminated with the victory of its presidential candidate Lula in 2002 who succeededFernando Henrique Cardoso of theBrazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB). For its defense ofeconomic liberalism, PSDB is the party's main electoral rival as well as theDemocrats, heir of theNational Renewal Alliance (Aliança Renovadora Nacional – ARENA), ruling party during themilitary dictatorship. Along with thePopular Socialist Party (Partido Popular Socialista – PPS), a dissidence of PCB, they have been said to form the centre-right opposition to the Lula administration.
1989 presidential elections
In the 1989 general elections, Lula went to the second round withFernando Collor de Mello. Even though all centrist and left-wing candidates of the first round united around Lula's candidacy, Collor's campaign was strongly supported by the mass media (notablyRede Globo as seen on the documentaryBeyond Citizen Kane) and Lula lost in the second round by a close margin of 5.7%.[46][47]
1994 and 1998 general elections
Leading up to the 1994 general elections, Lula was the leading presidential candidate in the majority of polls. As a result, centrist and right-wing parties openly united forFernando Henrique Cardoso's candidacy. As Minister of Economy, Cardoso created theReal Plan, which established thenew currency and subsequently ended inflation and provided economic stability. As a result, Cardoso won the election in the first round with 54% of the votes. However, it has been noted that "the elections were not a complete disaster for PT, which significantly increased its presence in the Congress and elected for the first time two state governors".[48] Cardoso would once again beat Lula in a rematch and re-elected for a second term in 1998.
2002 general elections
After the detrition of PSDB's image and as a result of an economic crisis that burst in the final years of Cardoso's government, Lula won the 2002 presidential election in the second round.
2006 general elections
On October 29, 2006, PT won 83 seats in theChamber of Deputies and 11 seats in theFederal Senate. Lula was re-elected with more than 60% of the votes, extending his position asPresident of Brazil until January 1, 2011.[49]
PT was now the second largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the fourth largest party in the Federal Senate and has five state governorships. However, it only gained control of one among the ten richest states (Bahia).
2010 general elections
In the 2010 general elections held on October 3, PT gained control of 17.15% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a record for the party since 2002. With 88 seats gained, it became the largest party in the lower chamber for the first time ever. PT also became the second largest party in the Federal Senate for the first time after electing of 11 senators, making a total of 14 senators for the 2010–2014 legislature.Its national coalition gained control of 311 seats in the lower house and 50 seats in the upper house, a broad majority in both houses which the Lula administration never had. This election also saw the decrease in the number of seats controlled by thecentre-right opposition bloc as it shrank from 133 to 111 deputies. The left-wing opposition, formed by PSOL, retained control of three seats.
The party was also expected to elect its presidential candidateDilma Rousseff in the first round. However, she was not able to receive the necessary number of valid votes (over 50%) and a second round in which she scored 56% of the votes took place on October 31, 2010. On January 1, 2011, she was inaugurated and thus became the first femalehead of government ever in thehistory of Brazil and the firstde facto femalehead of state since the death in 1816 ofMaria I,Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
In the 2010 elections, PT retained control of the governorships of Bahia,Sergipe andAcre, in addition to gaining back control of Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District. Nevertheless, it lost control ofPará. Candidates supported by the party won the race inAmapá, Ceará,Espírito Santo, Maranhão,Mato Grosso, Pernambuco,Piauí andRio de Janeiro, which means that PT would participate in 13 out of 27 state governorships.
2014 general elections
In the 2014 general elections held on October 5, the party won 13.9% of the vote and 69 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, down from the 88 seats they gained in 2010. In the first round of the presidential election, Rousseff won 41.6% of the vote but not enough to secure a victory.[50] In the run-off on October 26, Rousseff was re-elected with a narrow victory with 51.6% of the vote against SenatorAécio Neves.
PT enjoyed strong representation in the cabinets it led for most of the time that it was in office. PT held the majority of cabinet positions in the first two coalitions, with its occupation of ministerial positions comprising 60% in the first coalition,[51][52] 54.8% in the second coalition and 46.5% in the third coalition.[53]
Although PT deliberately never identified itself with a particular brand of leftism, it nevertheless "always defined itself as socialist" and espoused many radical positions.[54] For example, at theBrazilian Constituent Assembly of 1988 it advocated repudiation of Brazil'sexternal debt, nationalization of the country's banks and mineral wealth and a radicalland reform.[54] In addition, as a form of protest and as a signal that the party did not fully accept the "rules of the game" PT's delegates refused to sign the draft constitution.[54]
Over the next few years, the party moderated a bit, but it never clearly shed its radicalism and undertook no major reforms of party principles even after Lula's defeat in the1989 presidential elections.[54] For example, the resolution from the party's 8th National Meeting in 1993 reaffirmed PT's "revolutionary and socialist character", condemned the "conspiracy" of the elites to subvert democracy, stated that the party advocated "radical agrarian reform and suspension of the external debt" and concluded that "capitalism and private property cannot provide a future for humanity".[54]
In 1994, Lula ran for the presidency again and during his campaign dismissedFernando Henrique Cardoso's recently implemented Real Plan as an "electoral swindle".[54] The resolutions from the 1994 National Meeting condemned the "control by the dominant classes over the means of production" and reaffirmed the party's "commitment to socialism".[54] PT's Program of Government that year also committed the party to "anti-monopolist, anti-latifúndio, and anti-imperialist change [...] as part of a long-term strategy to construct an alternative to capitalism", statements that "sent shivers down the spine of the international financial community". Thus, as of 1995 "little or nothing" had changed in PT's official ideology since the early 1990s.[54]
After Lula's 1994 loss, the party began a slow process of self-examination.[54] The resolution adopted at its 10th National Meeting in 1995 stated that "our 1994 defeat invites a cruel reflection about our image in society, about the external impact of our internal battles, [and] about our ideological and political ambiguities".[54] The move from self-examination did not involve a clean break with the past as in other socialist parties after the end of the Cold War.[54] The process was gradual, full of contradictions and replete with intra-party tension.[54] By 1997, the National Meeting resolution redefined PT's version of socialism as a "democratic revolution", emphasizing a political rather than economic vision of socialism that aimed to make the state "more transparent and socially accountable".[54]
Lula's third presidential campaign platform in 1998 cut socialist proposals and even the mention of a transition to a socialist society, but the party's self-definition remained highly ambiguous as the resolution from the party's Meeting that year affirmed that Lula's platform "should not be confused with the socialist program of PT".[54] Thus, while PT had begun to distance itself from its original socialist rhetoric and proposals by 1998, a clearer shift did not occur until after Lula lost again that year and after Lula and his group had more fully digested the impact of Brazil's changing political context and of Cardoso's economic reforms.[54]
During Lula's fourth presidential run in 2002, the transition away from overt left-wing policies was fully cemented, and in a document known as theLetter to the Brazilian People, Lula committed himself and his party to the reform of taxes and pensions, and to promoting economic growth.[55] He also accepted some of the liberal reforms from the Cardoso government, meaning that the party program was nowde facto centre-left and social democratic in its ideology. Lula won the 2002 election in a landslide. However, some of the more left-wing factions of the party were critical of this turn toward the center and later left to form new left-wing parties like theSocialism and Liberty Party.
The party has a strong left-wing Catholic faction, and the Catholic left is considered the leading force behind the creation of the party, together with the Marxist left and 'new unionism'. Catholic grassroots communities known as CEBs became widespread in Brazil and became the backbone of organization development of the PT in rural peripheries and rural areas, where the party relied on its Catholic faction to provide structural network. Whereas the party was considered a 'vehicle' for social change, supportive Catholic communities were "gasoline stations". The socialism of PT appealed to the Brazilian Catholic left, who was heavily influenced byliberation theology and believed that Marxism andPolitical Catholicism complemented one another. One of pro-PT Catholic priests,Frei Betto, declared in 1986: "A real Christian is a communist, and a real communist a Christian."[56]
Thanks to its large grassroots base, the Catholic left allowed PT to expand en masse and influenced the ideology of the party, as the Catholic factions provided meeting places for PT nuclei and engaged in "political consciousness-raising" amongst the rural population. Because of this, the pastoral work of the Catholic Church is considered to have been "fundamental for the PT's achieving a truly national character". One of the co-founders of PT, Hamilton Pereira, wrote that thanks to its Catholic origins, the party "became a party that [brought] along the various expressions of Brazil". Lula also stated several times that the Catholic left played a more important role in the PT than trade unions.[56] The Workers' Party was the only party in Brazil able to develop such close relations with the Catholic Church.[16]
The PT is also influenced byliberation theology, considered an important factor in the creation of the party.[19] Peter Flynn in theThird World Quarterly wrote that the party is closely linked to liberation theology, and its liberation Catholic faction was an important contribution towards the party's victory in the2002 Brazilian general election.[18] The liberation theology faction of the party is also regularly included in the party's cabinet appointment. Liberationist bishopMauro Morelli served as president of the National Council for Food Security, and later became a political advisor of Lula. The PT mayor and Catholic lawyerPatrus Ananias became famous through his administration inBelo Horizonte, which became distinguished for its church-coordinated work against hunger and poverty. Liberation theologist Frei Betto also served as Lula's special adviser, and the faction also played a crucial role in the education policy of the party and the 2010 anti-corruption "clean slate" law.[17] Major liberation theology figures such asLeonardo Boff became supporters of the party.[57] The PT's close relationship with Brazil's progressive Catholic Church continues to influence the rherotic of the party, with its politicians referring concepts from liberation theology.[58]
| Election | Candidate | Running mate | Coalition | First round | Second round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| 1989 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) | José Paulo Bisol (PSB) | PT;PSB;PCdoB | 11,622,673 | 16.1% (#2) | 31,076,364 | 47.0% (#2) | Lost N |
| 1994 | Aloizio Mercadante (PT) | PT;PSB;PCdoB;PPS;PV;PSTU | 17,122,127 | 27.0% (#2) | – | – | LostN | |
| 1998 | Leonel Brizola (PDT) | PT;PDT;PSB;PCdoB;PCB | 21,475,211 | 31.7% (#2) | – | – | LostN | |
| 2002 | José Alencar (PL) | PT;PL;PCdoB;PMN;PCB | 39,455,233 | 46.4% (#1) | 52,793,364 | 61.3% (#1) | Elected Y | |
| 2006 | José Alencar (PRB) | PT;PRB;PCdoB | 46,662,365 | 48.6% (#1) | 58,295,042 | 60.8% (#1) | ElectedY | |
| 2010 | Dilma Rousseff (PT) | Michel Temer (PMDB) | PT;PMDB;PR;PSB;PDT;PCdoB;PSC;PRB;PTC;PTN | 47,651,434 | 46.9% (#1) | 55,752,529 | 56.1% (#1) | ElectedY |
| 2014 | PT;PMDB;PSD;PP;PR;PDT;PRB;PROS;PCdoB | 43,267,668 | 41.6% (#1) | 54,501,118 | 51.6% (#1) | ElectedY | ||
| 2018 | Fernando Haddad (PT) | Manuela d'Ávila (PCdoB) | PT;PCdoB;PROS | 31,341,997 | 29.3% (#2) | 47,040,380 | 44.8% (#2) | LostN |
| 2022 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) | Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) | PT;PCdoB;PV;PSOL;REDE;PSB;Solidariedade;Avante;Agir | 57,259,405 | 48.4% (#1) | 60,325,504 | 50.9% (#1) | ElectedY |
| Source:Election Resources: Federal Elections in Brazil – Results Lookup | ||||||||
| Election | Chamber of Deputies | Federal Senate | Status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | ||
| 1982 | 1,458,719 | 3.5 | 8 / 479 | 8 | 1,538,786 | 3.6 | 0 / 25 |  | Opposition |
| 1986 | 3,253,999 | 6.9 | 16 / 487 | 8 | – | – | 0 / 49 | | Opposition |
| 1990 | 4,128,052 | 10.2 | 35 / 502 | 19 | – | – | 1 / 31 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1994 | 5,959,854 | 13.1 | 49 / 513 | 14 | 13,198,319 | 13.8 | 4 / 54 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1998 | 8,786,528 | 13.2 | 58 / 513 | 9 | 11,392,662 | 18.4 | 7 / 81 | 3 | Opposition |
| 2002 | 16,094,080 | 18.4 | 91 / 513 | 33 | 32,739,665 | 21.3 | 14 / 81 | 7 | Coalition |
| 2006 | 13,989,859 | 15.1 | 83 / 513 |  8 | 16,222,159 | 19.2 | 10 / 81 | 4 | Coalition |
| 2010 | 16,289,199 | 16.9 | 88 / 513 | 5 | 39,410,141 | 23.1 | 15 / 81 | 5 | Coalition |
| 2014 | 13,554,166 | 14.0 | 68 / 513 | 20 | 15,155,818 | 17.0 | 12 / 81 | 3 | Coalition (2014–2016) |
| Opposition (2016–2018) | |||||||||
| 2018 | 10,126,611 | 10.3 | 56 / 513 | 12 | 24,785,670 | 14.5 | 6 / 81 | 6 | Opposition |
| 2022 | 15,354,125[a] | 13.9 | 69 / 513 | 13 | 12,456,553 | 12.2 | 9 / 81 | 3 | Coalition |
| Sources:Georgetown University,Election Resources,Rio de Janeiro State University | |||||||||
Most of the Workers' Party votes in presidential elections since 2006 stems from theNorth andNortheast regions of Brazil. Nevertheless, the party has always won every presidential election inRio de Janeiro from 1998 to 2014, theFederal District from 1989 to 2010 (with the exception in 1998 when Cardoso won there) and inMinas Gerais from 2002 to 2014 (these are two of the three largest states by number of voters and together they comprise 18.5% of voters). The party also maintains a stronghold in the southernmost state ofRio Grande do Sul, where it has won continuously since the second round of 1989 until 2002.
Most of PT's rejection comes fromSão Paulo as it has won elections there only once in 2002 (both rounds). The historical PT rejection in São Paulo was more widespread in interior than the capital as PT won the 1988, 2000 and 2012São Paulo mayoral election and was a major force in his homeland, theGreater São Paulo. Despite this, the party lost its support even in the region and has not won any electoral zone in the capital in 2016 municipal elections.Fernando Haddad, the candidate seeking reelection, stayed in a distant second place, with 36 percentual points below the winnerJoão Doria. PT managed to win in only one city of the region, the small and distant municipality ofFranco da Rocha. PT is also strongly rejected in other states of theCenter-South, such asRio de Janeiro, which until2018 had voted in the Workers Party presidential candidates in all new republic elections except 1994, the party shows strong difficulties to make representatives in federal, state and municipal levels. The party never elected a mayor in thecapital of the state, never elected a governor (Benedita da Silva, the sole governor of the state from the party, took over because the resignation of the titularAnthony Garotinho in 2002, which her party had broken some years early, and was massive defeated in the same year's election by the Garotinho's wifeRosângela Matheus) and is often overturned in elections by left-wing parties with much less weight in national elections. The triumphs in the state were more associated with a strong rejection of PSDB in the state (which is even more weak and rejected despite his national strength) than a support of PT's program. In 2018 presidential elections, PT lost in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with similar percentages in both states, with a difference of only 0.02% less percent of valid votes to the party in São Paulo. Despite being asoutheastern state, many regions of Minas Gerais, especially in the north region of the state, had strong economic, cultural and socially ties with the Northeast.São Francisco River, a symbol of the Northeast, has its source in a small city of Minas,Pirapora. With the exception of Rio Grande do Sul, Distrito Federal, andEspírito Santo PT never gets an elected governor in the Center-south until 2014, whenFernando Damata Pimentel was elected governor of Minas Gerais.
PT had a strong electoral stronghold in North Brazil and in the Amazonian region; The party triumphed in every state governorship inAcre from 1990 to 2018. However, the Acre section of the party is far more independent and moderate than the rest of the party and PT had only won the presidential election in the state twice in 2002 and 2006. PT also lost the governorship of Acre in 2018 to a candidate from right-wingProgressive Party.Roraima, which the impact of the controversy about theindigenous territory ofRaposa Serra do Sol, which former President Lula gave strong support despite the opposition of the non-indigenous people; andRondônia, which had a large population of evangelicals and south/southeastern migrants, also show reservations about the party. The electoral stronghold was also lost in 2018 elections; PT only triumphed in the states ofPará andTocantins, the only states in the region which borders Brazilian Northeast and much of their culture is near from Northwest than the rest of Amazon. In Amazonas, the largest Brazilian states, PT lost in 2018 for the first time since 1998; PT lost in the capital of the state,Manaus, afree zone which concentrates more than the half of the population of the state; in the large, sparsely inhabited interior of the Amazonian state, PT win by a large margin but insufficient to guarantee the fifth triumph of the party in the state on presidential election.
PT, however, maintained and expanded his stronghold in Northeast Brazil, conquered in Lula first elections in 2002. Since 2002, the only time that a state other than these which did not vote in PT in a presidential election was Alagoas in both rounds of 2002 presidential elections. PT and its allies was able to make big gains in north and northeast regions of Brazil even in times which the party was in crisis, like in the last mayoral elections. PT's most loyal party PCdoB and former alliesBrazilian Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Brasileiro − PSB) andDemocratic Labour Party (Partido Democrático Trabalhista − PDT) made huge gains in region together with PT in the Lula−Rousseff era. PCdoB is now the strongest party inMaranhão state and was able to elect the mayor ofAracaju,Sergipe; PSB is now the strongest party in the states ofPernambuco andParaíba; and PDT was able to triumph in three capitals of the northeastern. Despite losing all capitals in northwest, PT had the governorships of three northwestern states,Piauí,Bahia andCeará. The governorship of Bahia, conquered in 2006, is symbolical. The party was a stronghold ofLiberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal − PFL), nowDemocrats (Democratas − DEM), the greatest ideological rival of PT in national level. PSDB is a strongest party and headed all presidential tickets which PFL/DEM participated since 1994, but the origin of PSDB resembling with the origins PT as a leftist opposition to the dictatorship, and the parties had strong links until PSDB broke with PT and join in a coalition with PFL, a right-wing party with strong fiscal conservative views, associated with theBrazilian military regime in 1993 and the homeland ofAntônio Carlos Magalhães, the strongest leadership of PFL and a fierce foe of PT. Bahia is now the main stronghold of PT, the most reliable state for the Petismo and is considered a governance model to the party. Despite this, the state's capitalSalvador is governed byACM Neto, a leading member ofDEM and grandson of Antonio Carlos Magalhães.
The party is often accused of exploiting the North–South divide in Brazil to gain votes in the northeast. The party denies the claims and accuses the opposition to do the same in the South and Southeast.
According to a poll conducted by IBOPE on October 31, 2010, during the second round voting PT's candidate Dilma Rousseff had an overwhelming majority of votes among the poorest Brazilians.[59] Her lead was of 26% among those who earned aminimum wage or less per month.[59] Rousseff also had the majority of votes among Catholics (58%), blacks (65%) and mixed-race Brazilians (60%).[59] Amongst whites and Protestants, she wasstatistically tie toJosé Serra and her lead was of only 4% on both demographic groups.[59] Even though she was the first female candidate in a major party, her votes amongst men was wider than amongst women.[59]
The changes in the political orientation of PT (from a left-wing socialist to a centre-leftsocial-democratic party) after Lula was elected president were well received by many in the population, but as a historically more radical party, the PT has experienced a series of internal struggles with members who have refused to embrace the new political positions of the party. These struggles have fueled public debates, the worst of which had its climax in December 2003, when four dissident legislators were expelled from the party for voting against Social Insurance Reform.[60] Among these members were congressmanJoão Batista Oliveira de Araujo (known as Babá) and senatorHeloísa Helena, who formed theSocialism and Liberty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade − PSOL) in June 2004 and ran for president in 2006, becoming at the time the woman who had garnered the most votes in Brazilian history.
In another move, 112 members of the radical wing of the party announced they were abandoning PT in theWorld Social Forum inPorto Alegre on January 30, 2005. They also published amanifesto entitledManifesto of the Rupture that states that PT "is no longer an instrument of social transformation, but only an instrument of the status quo", continuing with references to theInternational Monetary Fund and other economic and social issues.
This scandal, called theBANCOOP case, includedJoão Vaccari Neto and four other directors of the housing cooperative. The cooperative received government contracts and had multi-million real revenue. The cooperative was found to have illegally padded the service contracts by 20%, with many of the contracts going unfulfilled. The cooperative eventually folded with a deficit of over R$100 million, requiring liquidation of assets to minimize the loss by members.
This scandal unfolded around September 2006, just two weeks before general elections. As a result, Berzoini left the coordination of Lula's re-election after allegedly using PT's budget (which is partially state-funded through party allowances) to purchase, from a confessed fraudster, a dossier that would be used to attack political adversaries. On April 25, 2007, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal unanimously cleared Lula of any responsibility for this scandal.[61]
In July 2005, members of the party suffered asequence of corruption accusations, started by a deputy of theBrazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro – PTB),Roberto Jefferson.[62] Serious evidence for slush funding and bribes-for-votes were presented, dragging PT to the most serious crisis in its history, known colloquially as theMensalão.José Genoíno resigned as president of the party and was replaced byTarso Genro, former mayor of Porto Alegre. A small minority of party members defected as a result of the crisis. Most of them went to PSOL.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2021) |
The investigation of a series of crimes, such corruption and money laundering, led to the arrest of the party's treasurer João Vaccari Neto and his sister-in-law. José Genoino, José Dirceu, Delcídio do Amaral, André Vargas and Delúbio Soares were also arrested in the process. Between 2014 and February 2016, theFederal Public Prosecutor's Office (Portuguese:Ministério Público da União) filed 37 criminal charges against 179 people, mostly politicians and businessmen.[63] Former PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva[64] and then PresidentDilma Rousseff[65] were also implicated.
Most recently, former President Lula was arrested in April 2018.[66] However, in March 2021, theSupreme Federal Court overturned all the convictions.[67] This came after leaks which suggested that Judge Sérgio Moro had conspired with the prosecution.[68]
Since its inception the party has been led by the following:
The party maintains directorates at the zonal, municipal, state and national levels, all elected directly by members of the party based on proportionality, gender parity, and both ethnic-racial and generational criteria. Each directorate elects an executive committee on the same basis to steer each directorate. All directorates of the party are required to meet every two years, at which 2/3 of party members or delegates may authorize a direct election process (processo de eleição direta, PED) to elect or re-elect party leaders. State meetings elect delegates to the National Meeting, who in turn elect the National Executive Committee. In addition, presidents at all levels are directly elected by party members in a two-round system.
The National Executive Committee maintains several national secretariats:[69]
Leaders of the party are elected through the
There are about thirtyfactions (tendências) within PT, ranging from Articulação, the centre-left group that Lula is a part of, toMarxists andChristian socialists.
Considered the right-wing of the party, i.e. going from centre to centre-left.
Its members are known aspetistas, from the Portuguese acronym PT.
In Brazil, as Simone Bohn makes straightforward (Chap. 3), the progressive Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) governments did not threaten the power of the national elite or landlord class; ...
The party alliance supporting Lula da Silva's candidacy is practically defined and will be composed of one center-right party (Solidariedade), two center parties (Green Party, PV; Sustainable Network, REDE), three center-left parties (Workers' Party, PT; Communist Party of Brazil, PCdoB; and the Brazilian Socialist Party, PSB), and one left-wing party (Party of Socialism and Liberty, PSOL).
(vii) Ideology (party): Despite that some international political science approaches consider party ideology a 'démodé' variable, Brazilian political scientists still vastly use it. Considering the objectives of our study, we classified the parties according to the literature concepts (ZUCCO JR., 2009), under which codes range from left (1) to right (5). Left: PSOL, PSTU, PCO, PCB. Center-left: PT, PCdoB, PDT. Center: PMDB, PSDB, PSB, PPS, PV. Center-right: PSD, PP, PR, PRB, PROS,PSC, PTB, PHS, SD. Right: DEM, PMN, PRP, PRTB, PSDC, PSL, PTdoB, PTC, PTN.
In October 2002 elections the left-wing Worker's Party (PT) won the presidential elections for the first time.
| Preceded by | Numbers of Brazilian Official Political Parties 13 – WP (PT) | Succeeded by |
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