José Serra
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José Serra (pron IPA: [ʒozɛ sɛhɐ]) (born March 19, 1942 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian politician, former minister, mayor of São Paulo and current Governor of São Paulo state.
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[edit] Biography
Born in 1942 to Italian parents, Francesco Serra and Serafina Chirico, Serra’s post-educational life consisted of exile outside of the country during the military dictatorship era. Serra came to the attention of the authorities having served as the President of the União Nacional dos Estudantes and spent the period of 1964-1978 in Chile, Bolivia and the United States. On returning to Brazil in 1978, Serra was appointed São Paulo state Secretary for Economics and Planning under Franco Montoro’s governorship and in 1986, 1990 and 1994 was elected to the Brazilian Congress, first as a Federal Deputy and then as a Senator.
As Mayor, Serra represents the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), which he helped found in 1988 alongside current São Paulo state Governor Geraldo Alckmin and ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, out of a split arising in the pro-democracy movement. It can be seen as a coalition of democrats, liberals and social democrats and enjoys a centrist outlook in comparison to its rival, the leftlist Workers’ Party (PT) of President Lula. Both parties enjoy large support in São Paulo state. Serra came to political prominence under Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s presidency (1994-2002) when he was appointed as Minister of Planning and later as Minister of Health. Though seen as something of a dour technocrat, Serra did pioneer new policies on HIV/AIDs treatment that were adopted elsewhere in the developing world.
Foto:Roosewelt Pinheiro/Ag.Senado
His first bid for the mayorship came in 1996, when he resigned his position as Minister of Planning in order to participate in the election for mayor of São Paulo, which was won by Celso Pitta. Pitta was the designated successor of mayor Paulo Maluf, who headed the right-wing populist Progressive Party. Both Maluf and Pitta administrations were characterised by expansive public works programmes and later Maluf faced (and still faces) charges that contracts for the works were awarded to his business associates in exchange for bribes. Pitta was replaced in 2000 by Marta Suplicy, then a federal deputy. Serra ran for President on behalf of the PSDB party in 2002 and was joined on the campaign trail by British Labour Cabinet member Peter Mandelson but was beaten by four-time candidate and PT founder Luiz Inácio da Silva (Lula). However, he was able to stage something of a comeback in 2004 in the São Paulo mayoral election and beat the PT incumbent in a disputed election.
Serra was often mentioned as a possible PSDB candidate in the upcoming 2006 Presidential elections, and, according to various polls, was the politician most likely to beat Lula. However, on March 14, 2006, PSDB announced that Geraldo Alckmin would receive party nomination, instead of Serra. The São Paulo mayor argued against party conventions, claiming that such an event would further divide and weaken the PSDB; Serra instead said that only via an internal consensus would he agree to challenge Lula once again.
Unfortunately for Serra, Alckmin and his political allies managed to gather support inside PSDB, and this scenario prompted Serra's backing out of the battle for party nomination. A Serra nomination for the 2006 presidential elections would have put him in an uncomfortable situation, as during his mayoral campaign he promised to serve out his term as mayor before being a candidate for any other position. Despite this, Serra decided to run for Governor, and resigned his position as Mayor at the end of March, 2006. [1]
[edit] His role in Brazilian politics today
Serra was the presidential candidate of the incumbent PSDB party in 2002, but lost the election to now president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2004, he successfully ran for Mayor of São Paulo city, elected in the second round with 55% of the votes.
José Serra is often considered a skilled administrator and a learned politician, however lacking charisma. He is one of the leading figures in Brazil's politics.
He was elected mayor of the city of São Paulo in 2004, when he defeated the incumbent mayor Marta Suplicy. His mandate was to expire on December 31, 2008. On March 31, 2006, Serra announced his candidacy for governor of São Paulo. Because of electoral rules, any candidate running for office in an election must not currently hold executive office, forcing Serra to resign as mayor, making the vice-mayor, Gilberto Kassab the new mayor of São Paulo until the 2008 election. He was elected in the first round and took office on January 1, 2007. It was the first time in São Paulo state's History that a Governor was elected in the first round of elections, what shows notable popular approval.
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| Preceded by Marta Suplicy |
Mayor of São Paulo 2005–2006 |
Succeeded by Gilberto Kassab |
| Preceded by Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
PSDB Party presidential candidate 2002 (lost) |
Succeeded by Geraldo Alckmin |
| Preceded by Cláudio Lembo |
Governor of São Paulo 2006— |
Succeeded by incumbent |
