The Workers' Party (, PT), also known as the Labor Party, is a centre-leftGallas, Daniel (March 29, 2016). "Dilma Rousseff and Brazil face up to decisive month" . BBC News. Retrieved July 20, 2017. political party in Brazil that is currently the country's ruling party. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century as social democracy, with the party shifting from a broadly socialist ideology in the 1990s, although the party retains a left-wingThe demise of Brazil's great centrist party . The Economist. Published November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2018.Khan, Shehab (November 14, 2018). Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president-elect accused of campaign funding irregularities . The Independent. Retrieved November 22, 2018. and marginal far-left faction to this day. Founded in 1980, PT governed at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties from January 1, 2003, to August 31, 2016. After the 2002 parliamentary election, PT became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and the largest in the Federal Senate for the first time."PT elege maior bancada na Câmara e a segunda do Senado" . [PT elects the largest group in the Chamber and the second in the Senate]. JusBrasil . October 5, 2010. With the highest approval rating in the history of the country at one time, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was PT's most prominent member.Rabello, Maria Luiza. "Lula's Chosen Heir Surges in Brazil Presidential Poll". Business Week. February 1, 2010. 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 to her impeachment in 2016. The party came back to power with Lula's victory in the 2022 presidential election.
The party has been involved in a number 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%"As cinco piores taxas de popularidade dos presidentes do Brasil" . [The five worst popularity ratings of Brazilian presidents]. Veja . July 27, 2017. and successive reductions in all elected offices since 2014. The 2022 general election marked a turning point in that trajectory.
The party symbols are a five-pointed red star inscribed with the initials "PT" in the center; a red flag with a white star also with the initials in the center; and the Workers Party's anthem. Its Superior Electoral Court (TSE) identification number is 13. Members and sympathisers of the party are often known as "Petistas".
History
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 the liberation theologySamuels, David. "From Socialism to Social Democracy: Party Organization and The Transformation of the Workers' Party in Brazil" . Comparative Political Studies. p. 3. on February 10, 1980, at Colégio Sion in São Paulo, a private Catholic school for girls. Agência Brasil. "Saiba mais sobre a história do PT" . Terra. June 24, 2006. The party emerged as a result of the approach between the labor movements in the ABC Region such as the Conferência das Classes Trabalhadoras (Conclat), later developed into the Central 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 in addition to years of exile. Dilma Rousseff herself was imprisoned and tortured by the dictatorship.
PT was launched under a democratic socialism trend. "Manifesto aprovado na reunião do Sion" . April 24, 2006. Fundação Perseu Abramo. After the 1964 coup d'état, Brazil's main federation of labor unions, the General Command of Workers (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores – CGT), which gathered leaders approved by the Ministry of Labour since its formation, a practice tied to the fact that since Getúlio 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 the ABC Region, organized by various unions including the ABC Metalworkers' Union, on the late 1970s led by Luiz 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 the Brazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro, PCB), forced the unionist movement of ABC, encouraged by anti-Stalinist leaders, to organize its own party.
PT was officially recognized as a party by the Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court on February 11, 1982. Political parties registered under the Supreme Electoral Court . Tribunal Superior Eleitoral. The first membership card belonged to art critic and former Trotskyist activist Mário Pedrosa, followed by literary scholar Antonio Candido and historian Sérgio Buarque de Holanda. OGASSAWARA, Juliana Sayuri. "Onde estão os intelectuais brasileiros" . Fórum. São Paulo: Editora Publisher, May 2009. Page 20. Holanda's daughter Ana de Holanda later became Minister of Culture in the Rousseff cabinet.
Electoral history
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 as São Paulo, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Goiânia as well as in some important states, such as Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and the Federal District. During the time it governed Porto 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."Introduction to Latin America Twenty-First Century Challenges by Peadar Kirby, P.151
This winning streak culminated with the victory of its presidential candidate Lula in 2002 who succeeded Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB). For its defense of economic liberalism, PSDB is the party's main electoral rival as well as the Democrats, heir of the National Renewal Alliance (Aliança Renovadora Nacional – ARENA), ruling party during the military dictatorship. Along with the Popular 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 with Fernando 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 (notably Rede Globo as seen on the documentary Beyond Citizen Kane) and Lula lost in the second round by a close margin of 5.7%.
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 for Fernando Henrique Cardoso's candidacy. As Minister of Economy, Cardoso created the Real Plan, which established the new 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". 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 the Chamber of Deputies and 11 seats in the Federal Senate. Lula was re-elected with more than 60% of the votes, extending his position as President of Brazil until January 1, 2011."Brazil re-elects President Lula", BBC, October 30, 2006.
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 the centre-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 candidate Dilma 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 female head of government ever in the history of Brazil and the first de facto female head of state since the death in 1816 of Maria 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 and Acre, in addition to gaining back control of Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District. Nevertheless, it lost control of Pará. Candidates supported by the party won the race in Amapá, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pernambuco, Piauí and Rio 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. In the run-off on October 26, Rousseff was re-elected with a narrow victory with 51.6% of the vote against Senator Aécio Neves.
Cabinet representation 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, 54.8% in the second coalition and 46.5% in the third coalition.
Ideology