The forgotten elections

If numbers represent the importance of an event, the legislative elections of 2002 promises to be a fantastic event. According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), more of 16 thousand candidates are competing this year for the 513 positions of federal deputies and the 54 Senate vacancies, in addition to positions in their respective States. It all seems like a huge battle, and in fact it is, but, after all, Does anyone really care about this??

The reason for the research is inconvenience (mainly from some congressmen), caused by alleged obsessive behavior of the media with the presidential candidates, leaving the issue of renewing the Chamber and Senate for another time _no one would risk saying when that will be.

The media is cited as the main responsible for the electorate's lack of interest in their representatives (leia interview with deputy Fernando Gabeira on this site). But she's not the only one to blame. The finger can also be pointed at the deputies and senators themselves, for the delay in the possible implementation of district voting or the need for separation, on the calendar, of the various elections. But the reason could still be found in the most obvious of territories: the history of Brazilian party organization.

“I believe that the media has not focused on the parliamentary elections because they are less interesting than the presidential race”, says Juliette Kerr, economista do World Markets Research Centre (WMRC), group specializing in economic and political information for investors and governments, covering 186 pa RIVER ses.

When Kerr, Latin American market analyst, uses the word “media”, She is not just referring to the Brazilian press. The lack of interest in Brazilian legislation is a symptom (she said, from London, to Tropico) easy to find among Western journalists.

The reason, Kerr says, lies in the fact that “the nature of Brazilian politics is that of fragmentation, in which regional loyalties are sometimes stronger than party affiliation. Maybe that's why it's not really important to know which party will get the most seats in Congress.. E, yet, Whoever wins the presidential race will be forced to form an alliance for the legislation to be approved.”.

This will also be a subject very far from the concerns of international investors, as, apparently, of Brazilian voters themselves? “No international front, investors are more concerned about how the economic policies adopted by the new government will impact the country's ability to continue honoring its external debts –why, if Brazil goes into moratorium, This will have serious implications for world markets. In this framework, the fiscal and current account deficit are the vulnerable areas”, says Juliette Kerr.

In this context, there is little left for politicians, except the hope of being saved with the revitalization of the parliamentary role, even if for that, oftentimes, deputies and senators have to be saved from themselves.

At least that's what the social scientist believes Rodrigo Cintra, for whom “the political class as a whole is discredited. The physical distance of congressmen from their support bases only deepens the impression that deviations and corruption reign in Brasília. It's common, inclusive, hear that, ‘if the deputies stopped stealing, Brazil would work out’. This idea that congressmen are no good is very old, but has been exacerbated in recent years, when important and well-known Brazilian public figures found themselves involved in scandals”.

Cintra is president of the website Consulado da Cidadania, created in 2000 with the intention of promoting rapprochement between voters and their parliamentarians and, more than that, offer the chance for citizens to truly interfere in the mandate of their elected officials. The task is civic, and also extremely difficult: promover a recuperação da imagem da função pública e, Meanwhile, obrigar um político a se justificar diante do eleitor.

Como, So, o Consulado da Cidadania atua? “Na área de conscientização política, o Consulado procura oferecer uma orientação geral sobre o que é votar e quais as implicações do voto”, says Cintra. “Lembramos sempre que o voto não dura o tempo do apertar de algumas teclas, mas sim quatro anos. Sem qualquer orientação político-partidária, auxiliamos os eleitores na identificação de questões importantes para as eleições e esclarecemos quanto a pontos duvidosos ou falsos. Thus, procuramos mostrar o que há por trás de um discurso populista e de pouca valia”.

Uma missão que não parece ser exatamente fácil, Cintra Explain. “A massa do eleitorado não tem qualquer preocupação política e não gasta seu tempo acompanhando a política pelos jornais ou participando de projetos como os elaborados pelo Consulado. Para rompermos com esse ciclo vicioso, fazemos campanhas sobre política dentro de escolas de ensino médio (que têm um poder multiplicador grande): elaboramos a cartilha ‘Por Que É Importante Saber Votar?’, que oferece dicas práticas sobre as eleições, e discutimos nas salas de aula o que é uma eleição e para que serve; o resultado tem sido muito bom”.

Do outro lado da questão, o balanço é menos positivo. Cada deputado e senador possuiu um telefone e um e-mail, que deveriam ser usados, em teoria, para comunicar com o eleitor. But, second Rodrigo Cintra, uma mensagem é respondida, when this happens, depois de um mês. “Em geral, as intervenções não chegam a eles, parando na burocracia do gabinete ou em algum assessor. O processo de transição da democracia delegativa para a participativa demora um tempo e ambos os lados devem aprender a trabalhar com isso, mas a pressão eleitoral indica que caminhamos nesse sentido”, diz ele.

Enquanto a nova realidade não chega, tanto candidatos quanto eleitores terão que lidar, nesta eleição, com aquilo que possuem. Algo que deveria ser uma parceria terminou se convertendo em distância e descaso, provocados por uma estranha forma de inimizade, na qual um lado jamais poderá recusar o apoio do outro.