In 14 cities, a single party will control the City Council | Choice in numbers

Besides representing a single party, most of these cities have another characteristic. In 12 of them, the legend that will control the Chambers from 2021 is the same as that of the elected mayor. In two other municipalities, mayors are unlikely to face difficulties with the legislature. This is because the title that the House will command is also part of the coalition that elected the heads of the Executive.

The control of the two powers by a single party, according to the experts, compromises one of the main tasks of the Legislative, which is the supervision of the Executive. Even if the mayor commits irregularities, it is unlikely, in the identified cases, that the councilors will proceed, for example, with a request for impeachment.

The cases of control of the Legislative by a single party occurred in small cities of Brazil, with a maximum of 10,000 inhabitants. Bom Sucesso, for example, is located in the interior of Paraíba, a state with five municipalities in which the Legislative will be controlled by a single title.

Bom Sucesso has just over 4,900 inhabitants and will include Mayor Pedrinho Caetano, from the DEM. He was elected with 84.9% of the votes. In the City Council, the nine councilors are also from the DEM. Also in Paraíba, the city of Vista Serrana will be governed by Sergio de Levi, from MDB. He obtained 63% of the votes and will have the support of the nine councilors of the Chamber, all of the World Bank.

In Barra do Azul, in Rio Grande do Sul, the Chamber will be controlled by the PSD, which was part of the coalition that elected the mayor who belongs to the PTB. In São Miguel do Aleixo, in Sergipe, the situation is similar. The legislature will be led by the councilors of the PSC, a party that was part of the coalition that elected the mayor of the PSD.

Effects of the end of coalitions

The professor of Political Science at the Federal University of Paraíba José Artigas explains that the control of a single party in the municipalities is a consequence of the political reform that ended the possibility of coalitions for proportional office elections, which forced the legends to run alone. As a result, many small parties were not strong enough to win votes and elect councilors.

The 14 municipalities identified showed a substantial drop in the number of parties with representation in the Legislative Assembly compared to the 2016 elections. The largest of them occurred in Curral Novo do Piauí, in Piauí, which had eight parties with representation in the City Council, And now you only have one, the MDB. There was also a strong reduction in Bom Sucesso (PB), which had seven subtitles in 2016 and will now only have one.

“This is without a doubt a reflection of the end of proportional coalitions. It is a collateral effect of this moment of transition that we are going through with the reforms that will improve our electoral system. There are few cases and they did not occur in large cities, a sign that it is a residual effect. The main objective of the reform was to create mechanisms to reduce party fragmentation in the Legislature, and that began to happen, but, of course, we will have situations like these that, in my opinion, will not become a standard in the municipal Legislatures ”, Artigas explains.

Despite seeing favorably the rules that prevent the formation of coalitions for proportional positions, the professor considers that the control of the Legislative and Executive by a single party is a distortion of the idea of ​​checks and balances expected in the relations between the parties. powers.

“A single party that controls both powers is a bad thing from the point of view of democracy because you do not have control of the legislature. It is unlikely that the council members will inspect the mayor as they should, although the Court of Accounts detects some irregularity, the Legislature has the last word and, in this case, it is almost certain that there will be no such control ”, points out Artigas.