No one will pressure Bolsonaro to decide on a name for 2026, says PL leader

The leader of the PL (Liberal Party) in the Chamber, deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (RJ), said this Monday (30) that former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will not be pressured by anyone to choose a name from the right to replace him in the 2026 electoral race.

Bolsonaro is ineligible until 2030 by decision of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) .

"I think it is the right of the centrists to exert pressure, and I don't think that even exists. Because anyone who knows former president Bolsonaro knows that he is not pressured by any political agent. No one is going to pressure him to make a decision ," said Sóstenes during an interview with the program "Roda Viva", on TV Cultura.

Despite being disqualified after convictions for abuse of political power and misuse of the media, Bolsonaro says he will try to reverse the situation "until the last second" . He can appeal the case to the STF (Supreme Federal Court) .

In recent months, some names from the Brazilian right have been tested in voting intention polls. Others have already expressed their views as options for the Planalto Palace and say they do not believe in a single candidate from the political party, as is the case of the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo).

An ally and former minister of the former government, the head of the São Paulo Executive, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), could be a viable option for 2026 — but for that to happen, according to Sóstenes, any chosen candidate would have to join the PL.

Exclusivity to the PL and presidential pardon

Still in an interview with TV Cultura, the party leader states that one of the former president's demands, if he really has to choose someone to replace him in next year's electoral race, is membership of the PL.

"What I am saying is that the candidacy, in the event that President Bolsonaro chooses someone other than him, will have to come to the PL for this composition," continued Sóstenes.

"Today it is the largest party, the largest party with television time, with party funds. Due to these circumstances, it will have to come to the PL, this is the condition that he [Bolsonaro] sets", he adds.

The presidential pardon was another point mentioned by the federal deputy when asked about a scenario in which Bolsonaro was convicted.

The measure is a type of pardon — total or partial — granted exclusively by the President of the Republic. The idea defended by him is that, in this case, Bolsonaro will be "pardoned" by some right-wing candidate chosen by him.

In the case of President Bolsonaro, what I defend is another instrument, it is constitutional. Pardon is constitutional, it is an attribution of the President of the Republic. And I am sure that, if he is convicted, which I do not believe, this will happen if any right-wing candidate wins because this conviction of President Bolsonaro is absurd.