José Serra
From Freepedia
José Serra is a Brazilian politician born in São Paulo on March 19, 1942.
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Serra's role in Brazilian politics today
Serra was the presidential candidate of the incumbent PSDB party in 2002, but lost the election to now president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2004, he successfully ran for Mayor of São Paulo city, elected in the second round with 55% of the votes.
José Serra is often considered a skilled administrator and a learned politician, however lacking charisma. He is one of the leading figures in Brazil's politics.
He was elected mayor of the city of São Paulo (the biggest and wealthiest city in Brazil, and the second biggest city in the world) on 2004, when he defeated candidate Marta Suplicy (then mayor, running for re-election). His mandate expires on December 31, 2008.
Biography and politics
Born in 1942, Serra’s post-educational life consisted of exile outside of the country during the military dictatorship era. Serra came to the attention of the authorities having served as the President of the União Nacional dos Estudantes and spent the period 1964-1978 in Chile, Bolivia and the United States. On returning to Brazil in 1978, Serra was appointed São Paulo state Secretary for Economics and Planning under Franco Montoro’s governorship and in 1986, 1990 and 1994 was elected to the Brazilian Congress, first as a Federal Deputy and then as a Senator.
As Mayor, Serra represents the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), which he helped found in 1988 alongside current São Paulo state Governor Geraldo Alckmin and ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, out of a split arising in the pro-democracy movement. It can be seen as a coalition of democrats, liberals and social democrats and enjoys a centrist outlook in comparison to its rival, the leftlist Workers’ Party (PT) of President Lula. Both parties enjoy large support in São Paulo state. Serra came to political prominence under Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s presidency (1994-2002) when he was appointed as Minister for Planning and then as Minister for Health. Though seen as something of a dour technocrat serving under a flambouyant ex-Marxist sociology professor, Serra did pioneer new policies on HIV/AIDs treatment that were adopted elsewhere in the developing world. Sometimes, Cardoso administration is regarded as something of a success in comparison to the chequered history of his predecessor, Fernando Collor de Mello. After Collor de Mello´s impeachment, FHC served as Minister of Finance under Collor´s succesor Itamar Franco and introduced the country’s most stable and enduring currency, the Real, although he left the government with low popularity. As such, Serra is more associated with the FHC years than with his own record.
His first bid for the mayoralty came in 1996, when he resigned as Health Minister to run on the election for São Paulo mayor that was won by Celso Pitta. Pitta was the designated successor of mayor Paulo Maluf, who headed the right-wing populist Progressive Party. Both Maluf and Pitta administrations were characterised by expansive public works programmes and later Maluf faced (and still faces) charges that contracts for the works were awarded to his business associates in exchange for bribes. Pitta was replaced in 2000 by Marta Suplicy, then federal deputy. Serra ran for President on behalf of the PSDB party in 2002 and was joined on the campaign trail by British Labour Cabinet member Peter Mandelson but was beaten by four-times candidate and PT founder Luiz Inácio da Silva (Lula). However, he was able to stage something of a comeback in 2004 in the Sao Paulo mayoral election and beat the PT incumbent in a very disputed election.
Serra’s name is often cited as a possible PSDB candidate against Lula in 2006, although he must resign the post of mayor before run the election.
External links
São Paulo 2004 mayoral race pages
