Behind the scenes of Vasco’s election: sea of ​​Leven in the morning and unite-unite between Salgado and Brant mark an endless fight | Basque

+ In the vote count after Justice suspends the election, Leven Siano takes the lead

The sound cars of the candidate for the “Somamos” ticket arrived in São Januário on Friday night, hours after the decision of judge Camilo Rulière, of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro. He installed a large screen in front of the main door of São Januário and ignited the militancy that recalled the old electoral strategies of Eurico Miranda, whose supporters appeared in force in the first hours of the elections.

In the morning, what we saw was a “white sea” of people in Leven’s white shirt dominating Rua General Almério de Moura.

+ After suspension of the election, resumed in the absence of justice and removal of plaques, Vasco’s election ends in a blackout

The election scheduled for Friday night caught even one of the top contenders by surprise. Jorge Salgado was at his farm in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, waiting for the elections to be held only on November 14.. He arrived in São Januário after 1 in the afternoon, which caused discomfort in his followers. The “Roxos” – from the “Mais Vasco” ticket – spent the night spinning thousands of Salgado chips to compete in the dispute.

Salgado and Julio Brant, who became a candidate in 2014 after the businessman surrendered, now the leader of “Mais Vasco”, discussed strategies until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday, without ruling out support for those most likely to beat Leven. In fact, they even discussed whether to go to the election. On both sides, there were hopes of winning the vote, even with a supposed disadvantage: they understood, yellow (“Semper Vasco”) and purple, that Leven already had his team on the field.

In the calculations of the two slates, only with fans outside of Rio – who would participate in online or hybrid elections – would there be at least a thousand more votes, which they believed were divided between “Mais Vasco” and “Semper Vasco”. In the mouths of urns published for each plate, sometimes one appeared in a second, now the other. They were contesting a useful vote, while Leven was in a “already won” mood.

The corridors of the courts

A little-known name in the Basque fans has gained notoriety in recent weeks in club politics: Werson Rêgo. Elected as a judge in the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice six years ago, Rêgo received a “motion of repudiation” at a Deliberative Council meeting for his criticism of opponents of the yellow plaque, which he supports, on Twitter.

In the social network it is defined as follows: “God, Family and Justice, my values. Vasco da Gama, my passion”. The followers of the Leven Siano ticket celebrated the victory on Friday, 45 minutes into the second half, before what they considered the supposed influence of Rêgo in the decisions of the Rio de Janeiro court. Rêgo, during the vote this Saturday, criticized the decision of the second instance of Justice, which marked the election from 8:00 p.m. on a Friday until 9:00 a.m. the next morning.

Hours later, the decision of the president of the Superior Court of Justice, Humberto Martins, in Brasilia, suspended the election.

After the morning’s avalanche of whites, with a massive presence of Leven voters, supporters of Salgado and Brant began to share the street and showed strength, but an absence was felt: the idol Edmundo, a strong name in Brant’s group. By early afternoon, there was already a murmur of possible election paralysis, but the purple and yellow had a possible change of course.

Campello, even with the hit “Campellooooo, Obrigadoooo, because you really exist” in the heights of São Januário, I already felt that I was out of the picture. Sérgio Frias, with no chance of victory, was congratulated on the courage to stay until the end of the dispute.

Court decision ignored

After episodes of aggression – verbal and even physical, against Luis Manoel Fernandes, a candidate for director of “Semper Vasco” – tempers calmed down in São Januário. Leven celebrated, Salgado and Brant spoke, but didn’t move.

Much of Salgado’s group supported Brant in 2017, and supporters from both sides were expected to join forces with Leven. However, after several conversations until the elections were interrupted, there was no agreement between the two.

The explosion with the news of the suspension, shortly before 8 pm, caused a new mess. The decision suspended the entire electoral process of the previous sentence, by judge Camilo Rulière, but did not cause an immediate stoppage in Vasco. Leven protested.

– The legal fact is not suspended. The effects of the election are suspended – he said.

In what was contradicted by the legal vice president of Vasco, Rogério Peres. The club received the subpoena around 8pm, via email, but after Leven’s manifesto, three members of the board of directors voted to continue the election. The president of the Deliberative Council, Roberto Monteiro, the president of the Council of Beneméritos, Silvio Godói, and the vice president of the Deliberative Council, Sérgio Romay.

At the time, Mussa left after the elections were suspended, the Vice President of the General Assembly, Alcides Martins, presided over the voting station. He waived the vote and accepted the board members. Three candidates withdrew from the election because they did not agree with the resumption: Alexandre Campello, Jorge Salgado and Julio Brant.

For those who were waiting for the lights to go out, a change in paint is a lesson from Vasco. In São Januário, turning off the lights is not just a popular saying. Repeating the mythical story attributed to Eurico Miranda in 1969, when he was the club’s asset manager, he would have turned off the lights to avoid the removal of President Reinaldo Reis. Alexandre Campello ordered the gym lights to be turned off. In the field, Leven protested and was enraged..

After the blackout, few people were left. But the power returned and, unable to find a place to house the sealed ballot boxes, the board of directors decided to count the votes. Anyone who has seen photos or videos of past investigations, with hundreds of people anxious about the result, was in awe of the image of sunrise in São Januário. The scene summed up the nap that Leven Siano took on his wife’s lap while he waited for the count to begin.

The scrutiny began at 1:51 am, with only two candidates present: Leven Siano and Sérgio Frias. The other three – Alexandre Campello, Jorge Salgado and Julio Brant – had long since left the place. From the judicial decision on Friday until the end of the scrutiny of an election already suspended by the president of the STJ, 32 hours will be marked in the history of Vasco.