The Brazilian Labour Party is a center-right political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 founded in 1981 by Ivete Vargas, niece of President Getúlio Vargas

Getúlio Vargas

Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...

. It claims the legacy of the historical PTB

Brazilian Labour Party (historical)

The Brazilian Labour Party was a center-left populist political party in Brazil founded in 1945 by supporters of the late Getúlio Vargas. It was dismantled by the military after 1964 coup d'état.-History:...

, although many historians reject this because the early version of PTB was a center-left party with wide support in the working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

.

History

In 1981, the military dictatorship that had dismatled the historic PTB decided to revoke its legislation which enforced a two-party state. Ivete Vargas, niece of Getúlio Vargas, became the president of the party.

Soon thereafter, a center-left wing of PTB, led by Leonel Brizola

Leonel Brizola

Leonel de Moura Brizola was a Brazilian politician. Launched in politics by Getúlio Vargas, Brizola was the only politician to serve as governor of two different states in the whole history of Brazil. In 1959 he was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1982 and 1990 he was elected...

, a member of the original PTB, broke with Vargas and founded the democratic socialist Democratic Labour Party

Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)

The Democratic Labour Party is a populist, democratic socialist political party of Brazil. It was founded in 1979 by left-wing leader Leonel Brizola as an attempt to reorganize the Brazilian leftist forces during the end of the Brazilian military dictatorship...

 (PDT). This break ensured that the PTB would abandon leftist politics, ultimately embracing the centre-right politics.

Popular support

At the legislative

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 elections

Elections in Brazil

Brazil elects on the national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected to a four-year term by the people. The National Congress has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members, elected to a four-year term by proportional...

 of October 6, 2002, the party won 26 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms...

 and 3 out of 81 seats in the Senate.

Before the last presidential election

Brazilian presidential election, 2010

The Brazilian presidential election was held in 2010 with two rounds of balloting. The first round was held on October 3 along with other elections as part of the 2010 general election...

, PTB participated in the coalition government of former President

President of Brazil

The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...

 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...

, and did not field presidential candidates. The party, however, did not support Lula's candidate to succeed him, Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Vana Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva....

 (herself a former historical PTB/PDT member), as it embarked on centre-right José Serra

José Serra

José Serra is a Brazilian politician, former secretary of state, congressman, senator, minister of Planning and Minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state.-Background:...

's failed campaign for President.

External links

• Official web site