Leader Dilma Rousseff Political position Centre-left Seats in the Senate 50 / 81 | Founded 2010 Seats in the Chamber 307 / 513 | |
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Ideology Social democracy
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With the Strength of the People (Portuguese: Coligação Com a Força do Povo), until 2014 named For Brazil to Keep on Changing (Portuguese: Para o Brasil Seguir Mudando, [ˈpaɾɐ u bɾɐˈziw seˈɡiʁ muˈdɐ̃du] ~ [ˈpaɾʊ bɾaˈziw siˈɡiɦ muˈdɐ̃ⁿ(d)u]), was a centre-left electoral coalition formed around the democratic socialist Workers' Party (PT) in Brazil for the 2010 presidential election. It comprised ten parties: the Worker's Party (PT), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Democratic Labour Party (PDT), Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), Party of the Republic (PR), Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), Social Christian Party (PSC), Christian Labour Party (PTC) and National Labour Party (PTN). On October 14, they were unofficially joined by the Progressive Party (PP). The coalition's presidential candidate was Dilma Rousseff from PT and the vice-presidential candidate was Michel Temer from PMDB. They were finally elected on October 31, 2010.
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For the 2014 election, the coalition changed its name to With the Strength of the People and was joined by the newly created Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Republican Party of the Social Order (PROS); PSB departed from the Dilma administration in order to launch the candidacy of Eduardo Campos, while PSC launched the candidacy of Pastor Everaldo. PTC and PTN both decided to support Aécio Neves, from the rival centrist Brazil Can Do More coalition.
2010 election
On October 3, Rousseff received the plurality of votes at the presidential election. Achieving over 47 million votes, she became the top voted female in the Americas. However, according to Brazilian law, she had to face a run-off against the second top voted candidate – José Serra from the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) – on October 31, once she was not able to get more than 50% of the unspoilt votes, therefore the majority of votes.
At the parliamentary election held that same day, the For Brazil to Keep on Changing coalition gained control of 352 out of the 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, as well as 54 out of the 81 seats in the Federal Senate. This granted Rousseff a broad majority in both houses which the latter PT administration, led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, never had. The coalition was also able to elect 11 out of the 18 governor seats defined in the first round. It gained control of five further governorships on October 31 among the ten states which had a run-off voting.
The same election also saw a major decrease in the number of seats controlled by the centre-right opposition, which gathered around the Brazil Can Do More coalition, led by former São Paulo Governor José Serra. It shrank from 133 to 111 deputies and from 38 to 27 Senators. It elected 7 out of the 18 governor seats defined on October 3, gaining control of four more on October 31. On the other hand, the left-wing opposition, formed by PSOL, a dissidence of PT, retained control of its three seats in the Chamber and gained one in the Senate.
On the second round, the For Brazil to Keep on Changing coalition received the support of PP, which had remained neutral in the first round, although most of its directories had already supported Rousseff. PSOL instructed its members not to give any votes to Serra. While its presidential candidate Plínio de Arruda Sampaio advocated the null voting, the party's Congressmen advocated the "critical vote" on Rousseff.
Dilma cabinet
On December 22, 2010, Rousseff appointed all 38 members of her cabinet. She handed out offices to six out of the ten political parties that formed the For Brazil to Keep on Changing coalition, in addition to PP.
However, with the dismissal of Nelson Jobim, former Minister of Defense, on August 4, 2011, the PT presence in the Dilma cabinet increased to almost 45%, while the PMDB presence was reduced to 13.5%. This happened because Rousseff named Celso Amorim, a PT member, to replace Jobim. After the last cabinet reform, on January 2014, 17 ministers were from PT, 3 were from PMDB, 2 from PR, 1 from PCdoB, 1 from PP, 1 from PRB, 1 from PDT, 1 from PSD and 12 independents.
PSB departed from the Dilma Rousseff cabinet on September 18, 2013; the Brazilian Socialist Party departed from the Dilma Rousseff cabinet in order to launch the candidacy of the late Eduardo Campos. The Social Christian Party departed from the Rousseff administration on January 2014 in order to launch the candidacy of Pastor Everaldo, who, unlike Dilma, had a strong neoliberal stance, promising to privatize Petrobras. Another Christian party, PTC, decided to support Aécio Neves' Brazil Can Do More coalition, as did PTN.
2014 election
For the 2014 election, the coalition changed its name to With the Strength of the People (Portuguese: Com a Força do Povo) and was formed by PT, PMDB, PCdoB, PDT, PRB, PR, PSB, PP, PSD and PROS.