Brazil Union

The **Brazil Union** (Portuguese: *União Brasil*) is a liberal-conservative political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 from a merger between the Democrats (DEM) and the Social Liberal Party (PSL). The merger resulted in the biggest party in Brazil, and was approved by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court on 8 February 2022.

## History

### Prelude to the merger

In 2017, Constitutional Amendment 97 was enacted, which established a progressive barrier clause, with that Brazilian political parties have free access to radio and television in electoral campaigns, as well federal funds. Likewise, the amendment prohibited the formation of political coalitions to contest proportional elections. The purpose of the amendment was to reduce the number of political parties in Brazil.

The first news that emerged proposing the merger was at the end of 2019, during the crisis that culminated in the departure of Jair Bolsonaro from the PSL along with many of his core supporters and by the departure of several historical members of DEM, such as mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes, the former president of the Chamber Rodrigo Maia and the vice governor of the state of São Paulo Rodrigo Garcia, in addition to bad election results of PSL in the municipal elections.

At the time, there was a lot of resistance, with ACM Neto, president of Democratas, stating that this union would be meaningless and Felipe Francischini, president of the Constitution and Justice Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, saying that the union would make both parties lose space in politics.

Since then, some political parties merged with others. Using this precedent, in 2021, the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and Democrats announced the upcoming merger. Historically, the Democrats were one of the largest parties on the Brazilian right, being the successor of the Liberal Front Party (PFL), while the PSL is historically a small social-liberal party, but with the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President started to position itself as a more socialy conservative and economically liberal party.

### Merger formalized and Departure of Bolsonaro Wing

The name along with the TSE number 44 was chosen at the end of September 2021. The merger was agreed upon on 6 October 2021 by an acclamation on a national convention containing representatives from both parties, and was legally approved by the Superior Electoral Court on 8 February 2022.

In the 2018 elections, the predecessor parties ( DEM and PSL ) elected 81 federal deputies, so that, on the date of the merger, the party had the largest number of members in the Chamber of Deputies. With the merger however, more core Bolsonaro supporters left the party for the Liberal Party and the Progressistas, given the party wanted to run its own presidential candidate. In April 2022, the party had 46 members in the Chamber of Deputies, ranking fifth among the parties in the House.

### 2022 Presidential Election

Committing to its attempt to nominate a presidential candidate in the 2022 Brazilian general election, the party nominated Soraya Thronicke, a lawyer and senator from Mato Grasso do Sul, as their presidential candidate and Marcos Cintra, an economist and federal deputy for São Paulo, as vice-president.