For Brazil to keep on changing (Portuguese: Para o Brasil Seguir Mudando) is the name of an electoral coalition formed around the democratic socialist Workers' Party (PT) in Brazil for the 2010 presidential election. It comprised ten parties from the left and center spectrums: PT, PMDB, PCdoB, PDT, PRB, PR, PSB, PSC, PTC and PTN. On October 14, they were unofficially joined by PP.[1] Its 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.
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.[2] However, according to Brazilian law, she had to face a run-off against the second top voted candidate – José Serra from 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,[3] as well as 54 out of the 81 seats in the Federal Senate.[4] This will grant 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.[5] 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[3] and from 38 to 27 Senators.[4] It elected 7 out of the 18 governor seats defined on October 3,[5] 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[3] and gained one in the Senate.[4]
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.[1] PSOL instructed its members not to give any votes to Serra.[6] While its presidential candidate Plínio de Arruda Sampaio advocated the null voting, the party's Congressmen advocated the "critical vote" on Rousseff.[6]
Contents |
| Presidential election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | % |
| 1st | Dilma | Michel Temer | 47,651,434 | 46.9% |
| 2nd | 55,752,483 | 56.0% | ||
| Parliamentary election* | |
|---|---|
| Seats in the Chamber: |
352 / 513
|
| Seats in the Senate: |
54 / 81
|
| (*) Considering PP's results | |
| Gubernatiorial elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
16 / 27
|
|||
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. The composition of the Dilma cabinet had the following party representation from her inauguration until August 2011:
| Party | Number of offices | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| PT | 16 | 42.1% |
| Independents | 10 | 26.3% |
| PMDB | 6 | 15.8% |
| PSB | 2 | 5.3% |
| PCdoB | 1 | 2.6% |
| PDT | 1 | 2.6% |
| PP | 1 | 2.6% |
| PR | 1 | 2.6% |
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.[7]
On August 16, 2011, after a series of anti-corruption purges conducted by Rousseff on the PR-controlled Ministry of Transportation, including the dismissal of Minister Alfredo Nascimento, which was pressured and ended up resigning on July 6, PR announced that it would no longer be part of the ruling coalition.[8] In addition to that, the Green Party (PV), which launched the candidacy of Marina Silva for President in 2010, announced its adhesion to the coalition on the following day. Silva had left PV on July 2011.[9]