Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL)
Posted October 23, 2018
The Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL) was formed in 2004 by currents from the Brazilian Workers Party (PT) which rejected participation in the Lula government. The members of the Fourth International in Brazil are members of PSOL. In the following statement PSOL calls for a vote for PT candidates Fernando Haddad and Manuela d’Ávila in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election to be held on October 28, 2018.
Fernando Haddad campaigning
The elections in the first round ended up maintaining the same scenario of instability and polarization provoked by the 2016 coup and which deepened an economic and social crisis that had already unfolded. It also deepened a crisis of political representation of such a magnitude that it generated the conditions for the emergence of an extreme-right candidate that reached the second round with considerable support from the ruling classes. The election knocked out oligarchs that have traditionally dominated the political system, allowing the extreme-right to capitalize on the social rage against the “system”.
The second round is the continuation of the struggle against fascism and the coup. The central task at this moment is, therefore, to defeat Bolsonaro. His defeat would open the possibility of blocking the agenda initiated by Temer, guaranteeing national sovereignty and gathering the conditions to continue defending democratic conquests against authoritarianism. For this, the PSOL will support from now on the candidacy of Haddad and Manuela, while maintaining our political differences and preserving our independence. We call on all our militants to take the streets to continue saying loudly and clearly: not him!
The PSOL and the alliance we formed in the first round around Boulos and Sônia, with social movements and the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), intellectuals and artists will continue to defend the dignity of the Brazilian people against inequality and privileges. This candidacy marks the beginning of a new cycle in the Brazilian left and PSOL is proud to have welcomed and stimulated this construction. Therefore, we will continue to defend the causes that no other candidature has had the courage to support.
We will be in the campaign to defeat Bolsonaro and elect Haddad and Manuela defending national sovereignty and the rights of the majority of our people. We will be in the streets and at the polls demanding the repeal of all the measures of the Temer government, against pension reform and labour reform, for the end of genocide against the black population, the end of violence against the LGBT community, the demilitarization of the police, the legalization of drugs, the official recognition of indigenous and quilombola (Afro-Brazilians who escaped from slavery) lands, zero deforestation and the defence of women’s rights and all their demands — for wage equality, against sexism and for the legalization of abortion. And therefore, we will not give up the fight for our energy sovereignty with the defence of oil reserves, of Petrobras and of Eletrobrás, in the perspective of a transition of the energy matrix and of the transport system.
PSOL understands that the fight to defeat Bolsonaro in the second round is to defend and expand rights and not to negotiate them away. We will continue to confront privileges and fight for the people to take centre stage. Only then will it be possible to guarantee a cycle of hope, justice, equality and sovereignty in Brazil.
We orient our militants to building broad committees under the slogan #EleNão. The example of the women, who took to the streets on September 29, inspires us and strengthens new mass demonstrations to defeat the far right. We will be in the campaign to raise Haddad and Manuela to victory and for the will of the people to be respected. Where there is a second round for state governments, we direct our militancy to support those that publicly oppose Bolsonaro’s project. In each state, local activists will define ways to contribute actively to popular mobilizations to defeat backwardness, prioritizing the construction of plural spaces that incorporate all those who defend democracy, maintaining our principles and the coherence that mark the PSOL.
We will continue in the streets together without fear to change Brazil. Not him!
National Executive of PSOL
São Paulo, 8 October 2018