Social Liberal Party (Brazil)

This article is about a conservative and nationalist party. For Brazilian liberal parties, see Liberalism in Brazil.

Social Liberal Party
Partido Social Liberal
AbbreviationPSL
PresidentLuciano Bivar
Founded30 October 1994; 31 years ago (1994-10-30)
Dissolved8 February 2022; 4 years ago (2022-02-08)
Merged intoBrazil Union
HeadquartersSHN, Quadra 02, Bloco F, Ed. Executive Office Tower, Sala 1.122 – Brasília, DF
Membership (October 2021)74,824[1]
Ideology
Political position
Colours  Blue
  Yellow
  Green
TSE Identification Number17
Website
psl.org.br

The Social Liberal Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Liberal, PSL) was a political party in Brazil, that merged with the Democrats and founded the Brazil Union. Initially a centrist political party, the PSL became a right-wing to far-right party in 2018.

Founded in 1994 as a social-liberal political party by Luciano Bivar, businessman and former president of football club Sport Club do Recife, the PSL was registered on the Superior Electoral Court in 1998. Throughout much of its early history, the PSL didn't have much of any representation in national politics and mostly remained as the personal party of Bivar.[12] During the 2006 Brazilian general election, Bivar was launched as a presidential candidate and received only 0.06% of the votes. In 2015, the PSL started a modernization and reformation process, harboring the economic liberal and social liberal movement Livres, to emphasize the party's affiliation with social liberalism.[12][13]

However, in January 2018, former Social Christian Party politician Jair Bolsonaro joined the party in preparation for his presidential campaign and converted it into a far-right party, defending economically liberal, Brazilian nationalist, radically anti-communist and social conservative. The original name remained after the ideological shift, and after Livres (the party's original main wing) left the party and formed their own political movement to continue the party's original goals. Bolsonaro became the party's nominee for the 2018 Brazilian general election and won in both rounds. Many Bolsonarist supporters joined PSL and the party was able to elect 52 federal deputies and 4 federal senators, as well as state governors of Rondônia, Roraima and Santa Catarina, and multiple state deputies in multiple state assemblies. Bolsonaro left the party in 2019 after disagreements with its president, Luciano Bivar, and then founded Alliance for Brazil,[14] later joining the Liberal Party in 2021.[15]

On 6 October 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats to establish the Brazil Union party.[16]

History

PSL's logo from 1994 to 2004

PSL was originally founded on 30 October 1994 by businessman Luciano Bivar as a social liberal party.[17] It was registered on the Superior Electoral Court on 2 June 1998.[18]

In the 2002 legislative elections, PSL won 1 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Federal Senate. In the 2006 legislative elections, the party won no seats in the Chamber of Deputies or the Federal Senate. In the 2010 legislative elections, PSL won 1 seat in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Federal Senate, maintaining the same results in the 2014 legislative elections.

Luciano Bivar during the 2006 Brazilian general election

In 2015, through the initiative of Bivar's son, Sérgio Bivar, the PSL underwent a reform led by the internal social liberal wing Livres, with names such as political scientist Fábio Ostermann [pt] and journalist Leandro Narloch reinforcing the party's affiliation with social liberal policies.[19][13] PSL also supported the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff.[20]

In 2017, the only elected federal deputy of the party, Alfredo Kaefer, was expelled from the party after pressure from Livres for voting in favor of a legislation that would negatively affect Ridesharing apps like Uber and Cabify by classifying them as public transportation. Before the vote, Livres had taken a firm stance against the legislation, arguing that regulation would negatively restrict the market. Kaefer, who identified himself as "economically liberal but socially conservative", claimed the group was "hijacking" the party and confusing "liberty with libertinism."[21][22]

On 5 January 2018, conservative and former Social Christian politician Jair Bolsonaro became a member of the party, which prompted the Livres wing to leave the party in protest of Bolsonaro's social conservative views. After the exit of Livres, the party followed a national conservative path, changed its colors from purple to the more nationalist blue, yellow and green (the colors of Brazil's flag) and since then has discussed a name change either to Republicans (Republicanos) or Mobilize (Mobiliza).[23] On 5 March 2018, Bivar stepped down from party's presidency and Gustavo Bebianno was appointed as acting president.

Bolsonaro eventually became PSL's nominee for the 2018 presidential election, exceeding polling forecasts to receive 46% of the popular vote in the first round.[24] Bolsonaro's coattails helped elect 52 deputies and 4 senators from PSL, which made it the second largest political party in the post-2018 Chamber of Deputies.[25] It also became the largest single party in the legislative assemblies of both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.[26][27] On 28 October 2018, Bolsonaro was elected president with 55.13% of the votes, defeating Workers' Party's Fernando Haddad.[28] He took office on 1 January 2019.[29]

On 29 October 2018, Bivar was re-appointed as party's president.[30] On 12 November 2019, Bolsonaro announced his departure from the party following disagreements with the national executive.[31] However, a lot of Bolsonaro supporters stayed on PSL and the party tried to court members of the Free Brazil Movement.[2]

On 6 October 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats (DEM) to establish the Brazil Union party. The new party plans to use the number 44 as its electoral number.[16] The merger was approved by the Superior Electoral Court and officially became registered on 8 February 2022.[32] As such, both PSL and DEM were disbanded.

Organization

PSL while housing the Livres movement

Ideology and policies

Since Bolsonaro's entrance in the party, PSL has changed much of its ideologies. It went from a social-liberal party with an economic liberal group Livres[33] to a far-right and right-wing populist party, abandoning its former cultural liberalism and keeping its economic liberal policies, supporting privatisation and decentralisation, while at the same time adopting cultural conservatism as well as social-conservative policies regarding abortion, legalization of marijuana, and teaching of gender identity in schools.[3]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Running mate Colligation Votes % Votes % Result Sources
First round Second round
2006 Luciano Bivar (PSL) Américo de Souza (PSL) None 62.064 0.06% (#7) - - Lost Red XN [34][35][36]
2014 Marina Silva (PSB) Beto Albuquerque (PSB) PSB; PHS; PRP; PPS; PPL; PSL 22,176,619 21.32% (#3) - - Lost Red XN [37][38][39][40]
2018 Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) Hamilton Mourão (PRTB) PSL; PRTB 49,276,990 46.0% (No. 1) 57,797,801 55.13% (No. 1) Elected Green tickY [41][42][43][44][45]

Legislative elections

Election Chamber of Deputies Federal Senate Government
Votes % Seats +/– Votes % Seats +/–
2002 408,512 0.47%
1 / 513
 Increase 1 295,807 0.19%
0 / 81
 Steady 0 Opposition
2006 190,793 0.20%
0 / 513
 Decrease 1 46,542 0.06%
0 / 81
 Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2010 499,963 0.52%
1 / 513
 Increase 1 446,517 0.26%
0 / 81
 Steady 0 Opposition
2014 808,710 0.83%
1 / 513
 Steady 0 did not participate
0 / 81
 Steady 0 Opposition
2018 11,457,878 11.65%
52 / 513
 Increase 51 19,413,869 11.33%
4 / 81
 Increase 4 Coalition

See also

References

  1. ^ "Estatísticas do eleitorado – Eleitores filiados" (in Portuguese). Superior Electoral Court. November 2021. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Rachado entre aliados e opositores de Bolsonaro, PSL filia vereador e abre caminho para MBL". www.folhape.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2 November 2025. Por outro lado, a escolha do MBL pelo PSL leva em conta a avaliação de que dificilmente o presidente voltará para o partido que o abrigou em 2018. Hoje, no entanto, a maior parte da bancada federal do PSL ainda é fiel a Bolsonaro, e o partido é disputado por ter a segunda maior fatia do fundo eleitoral. [On the other hand, MBL's choice of PSL takes into account the assessment that the president is unlikely to return to the party that sheltered him in 2018. Today, however, most of the PSL's federal representatives are still loyal to Bolsonaro, and the party is coveted because it has the second-largest share of the electoral fund.]
  3. ^ a b c d "Em que acreditamos" (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Brazil elections: Bolsonaro and Haddad choices before voters". BBC. 28 October 2018.
  5. ^ Scuch, Matheus (5 January 2018). "Bolsonaro decide concorrer à Presidência pelo PSL" (in Portuguese). GaúchaZH. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. ^ [4][5]
  7. ^ "Com chegada de Bolsonaro, Livres anuncia saída do PSL". Estadão.
  8. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro seeks top judge to become Brazil justice minister". BBC News. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  9. ^ Pearson, Samantha; Magalhaes, Luciana (28 October 2018). "Far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro wins divisive Brazil presidential election". MarketWatch. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "Quem Somos" (in Portuguese). Livres. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  11. ^
  12. ^ a b "As direitas em choque - revista piauí". revista piauí - _pra quem tem um clique a mais (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2025. O Livres surgiu em 2016 como uma tendência do hoje famoso PSL. Até então, o PSL era tudo o que um partido não deve ser: não tinha nenhuma ideia, mas tinha um dono, Luciano Bivar, então suplente de deputado federal. Bivar era pouco conhecido por sua carreira política, mas muito conhecido como cartola do Sport Club do Recife. Seu filho, Sergio Bivar, queria que o PSL virasse um partido de verdade e pretendia transformá-lo numa legenda liberal com o nome de Livres. [Livres emerged in 2016 as an offshoot of the now-famous PSL. Until then, the PSL was everything a party shouldn't be: it lacked direction, but it had an owner, Luciano Bivar, then an alternate federal deputy. Bivar was little known for his political career, but very well known as a director of Sport Club do Recife. His son, Sergio Bivar, wanted the PSL to become a real party and intended to transform it into a liberal party called Livres.]
  13. ^ a b Constantino, Rodrigo (28 January 2016). "PSL se renova e foca mais no "liberal" da sigla. Ou: It's happening!" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Bolsonaro anuncia saída do PSL e criação de novo partido" (in Portuguese). G1. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Far-Right Hate and Extremist Groups in Brazil". Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  16. ^ a b null. "Convenção coletiva formaliza fusão PSL-DEM e criação do União Brasil". Gazeta do Povo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  17. ^ "PSL - Partido Social Liberal 17" (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Partido Social Liberal - Nossa História". psl.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Partido Social Liberal". Pslnacional.org.br (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Impeachment de Dilma: saiba como votou cada um dos partidos na Câmara" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  21. ^ Catarina Scortecci (24 May 2017). "Kaefer diz lamentar "sequestro do PSL": "O Livres mistura liberdade com libertinagem"". Gazeta do Povo. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  22. ^ José Fucs (17 December 2017). "Livres ganha espaço e pode assumir o comando do PSL". Estadão. Retrieved 18 January 2018.[dead link]
  23. ^ "Deputado Jair Bolsonaro anuncia filiação ao PSL" (in Portuguese). G1. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  24. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro: Far-right candidate wins first round of Brazil election". BBC News. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  25. ^ Gamarski, Rachel; Adghirni, Samy (8 October 2018). "Bolsonaro Election Effect Turns Brazil's Congress on Its Head". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  26. ^ "Deputados estaduais eleitos no RJ; veja lista" (in Portuguese). G1. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  27. ^ Pessoa, Gabriela Sá; Saldaña, Paulo (8 October 2018). "PSDB cai pela metade na Assembleia de SP e PSL se torna principal bancada". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  28. ^ Faiolo, Anthony; Lopes, Marina (7 October 2018). "Brazil's far-right candidate takes big lead in presidential election". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  29. ^ Londoño, Ernesto; Darlington, Shasta (28 October 2018). "Jair Bolsonaro, Far-Right Populist, Elected President of Brazil". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  30. ^ Grillo, Marco (29 October 2018). "Um dia após vitória de Bolsonaro, PSL troca presidência do partido". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  31. ^ "Bolsonaro anuncia saída do PSL e criação do Aliança pelo Brasil" (in Portuguese). R7. 12 November 2019.
  32. ^ Alves, Renato (6 October 2021). "Convenção marca junção de PSL-DEM e surgimento do União Brasil | O TEMPO". www.otempo.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  33. ^ Fucs, José (5 January 2018). "Com chegada de Bolsonaro, Livres anuncia saída do PSL". O Estado de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  34. ^ "Candidatos - Presidente - Luciano Bivar". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). 12 August 2006.
  35. ^ "Luciano Bivar (PSL)" (in Portuguese). 21 August 2006.
  36. ^ "Bivar por Bivar". G1 (in Portuguese). 11 November 2006.
  37. ^ "PSL ficará na coligação, diz assessoria de Marina Silva". Exame. 3 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Marina Silva's coalition likely to back presidential candidate Aécio Neves". Agência Brasil. 9 October 2014.
  39. ^ "Wilderness to wildest dreams: the remarkable rise of Bolsonaro's Social Liberal Party in Brazil". LSE. 1 March 2019.
  40. ^ "Partidos da coligação aprovam candidatura de Marina Silva". G1 (in Portuguese). 21 August 2014.
  41. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro: Far-right candidate wins Brazil poll". BBC. 29 October 2018.
  42. ^ "Ficha do candidato a presidente Jair Bolsonaro - PSL | Eleições 2018 | Folha". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  43. ^ "Front-runner Bolsonaro has campaign riddled with controversy". Agência Brasil. 7 October 2018.
  44. ^ "Apuração pelo Brasil". G1 (in Portuguese). 28 October 2018.
  45. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro gana en Brasil y se convierte en presidente electo: mira aquí los resultados de las elecciones estado por estado". BBC (in Spanish). 28 October 2018.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Liberal_Party_(Brazil)