The 2010 elections were the first to be held since electoral amendments intended to promote women's political participation. Among other things, parties must allocate at least 30 per cent of their parliamentary candidatures to women (see note 1). At stake were all 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and two thirds of the 81 seats in the Senate (54 seats). The parliamentary elections were held in parallel with the presidential elections.
No party secured a majority in the previous elections held in October 2006. In the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) became the largest force, taking 89 of the 513 seats, followed by President Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva's Workers' Party (PT) with 83 seats. Three other leftist parties - the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) and the Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B) - took 27, 24 and 13 seats respectively. The main opposition Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) and its electoral ally, the Liberal Front Party (PFL), took 66 and 65 seats respectively. Other main opposition parties - the Popular Socialist Party (PPS) and the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) - took 22 seats each while the Green Party took 13 seats. The remaining seats went to small parties. Following the one-third renewal of the 81-member Senate, the PFL became the largest force, holding 18 seats. The PSDB and the PMDB held 15 seats each while the PT had 11. In March 2007, the PFL renamed itself The Democrats (DEM).
In 2010, for the first time since the end of military rule in 1985, President Lula was not a presidential candidate. He was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. The international media focused on the presidential election, paying only secondary attention to the parliamentary polls.
President Lula endorsed Ms. Dilma Rousseff, his Chief of Staff and Energy Minister, as the PT's presidential candidate. The PT pledged to continue the "My Home, My Life" (Minha Casa, Minha Vida) programme, which aims to provide up to 3 million new homes to low-income families and single mothers. Ms. Rousseff, who was keen to become the country's first female President, pledged to carry on President Lula's policies in order to continue to provide stability and prosperity to all Brazilians.
The PT was challenged by the PSDB, which endorsed a former mayor of Sao Paulo, Mr. José Serra, as its presidential candidate. Mr. Serra, who served as health minister under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government (1995-2002), argued that it was the PSDB that had laid the groundwork for Brazil's current prosperity. The PSDB promised to lead a pro-business government and increase the minimum wage from R$ 500 (US$ 300) to R$ 600 (US$ 360) starting from 2011. The PSDB's coalition partner, the DEM, endorsed Mr. Indio da Costa (DEM) as Mr. Serra's running mate. Mr. Costa had co-sponsored the "clean record" (ficha limpa) bill, toughening the eligibility requirements for public office. Candidates who are found guilty of committing electoral violations and crimes involving the use of public funds are barred from running for office for eight years. President Lula signed the bill into law on 4 June 2010 after the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate had approved it (see note 2).
The Green Party attracted media attention due to its popular presidential candidate, Ms. Marina Silva. The former environment minister had left the government in May 2008, accusing it of disregarding sustainable development. She promised to invest R$ 45 billion (US$ 27 billion) in four years to provide a better sewage disposal and water treatment system.
In all, 81.88 per cent of the 135 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
According to the final results, the left-wing parties, including the PT and the PSB, gained 310 of the 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 50 of the 81 seats in the Senate. The opposition parties, including the PSDB and the DEM, took 138 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 24 seats in the Senate.
In the presidential election, no candidate secured the required 50 per cent of the votes to be elected in the first round.
On 31 October, in the run-off presidential elections, Ms. Rousseff (PT) triumphed over Mr. Serra (PSDB), thereby becoming the first female President of Brazil. She was officially sworn in on 1 January 2011.
On 1 February 2011, the newly elected Congress held its first session. The Chamber of Deputies elected Mr. Marco Maia (PT) as its Speaker, while the Senate re-elected Mr. José Sarney (PMDB) as its President.
Note 1:
On 15 and 16 September 2009 respectively, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill modifying the electoral law and the law on election standards. President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva signed the bill into law on 29 September. Among other things, the law seeks to increase women's political representation. Political parties will be required to allocate at least 30 per cent of their candidatures for parliament to women candidates. They must also use at least 10 per cent of their advertising and 5 per cent of their public campaign funds to promote the participation of women in politics.
Note 2:
Several parliamentarians subsequently requested the Constitutional Court to examine the constitutionality of the clean record law. Since the Court had not ruled before the 2010 polls, the names of candidates barred from running for elections under the law appeared on the ballot. The High Electoral Tribunal (TSE) considered the votes cast for those candidates invalid. On 29 March 2011, the Supreme Court (STF) ruled that the clean record law should not be applied to the 2010 elections. |
