The Republicans (), formerly the Brazilian Republican Party (, PRB) and originally formed as the Municipalist Renewal Party (, PMR), is a Brazilian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. Its electoral number, the numerical assignment for Brazilian political parties, is 10. The party is socially conservative and economically liberal, and also has a strong association with the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. As the PRB, it was the party of former

Vice President of Brazil The vice president of Brazil (), officially the vice president of the Federative Republic of Brazil (''Vice-Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil''), or simply the ''vice president of the republic'' (''Vice-Presidente da República'') i ...

José Alencar, where it was part of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government. While it also supported

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

until her impeachment, it was one of the closest allies of the Bolsonaro government.

History

The party was founded in August 2005 as the Municipalist Renovator Party by pastors of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Lula's

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

José Alencar moved to PRB on 2005 after leaving the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. In March 2006, the party was renamed the Brazilian Republican Party. The Brazilian Republican Party first fought against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, then rallied behind him after his re-election in 2006. According to one study, the PRB was supportive of the Lula da Silva and Rousseff presidencies “on the basis of their concern for social democracy and for eliminating inequality.” However, later the PRB started to join the new rising wave of conservativism and anti- petism in Brazil and all of the PRB's deputies voted in favor of Dilma's impeachment. They then supported the government of

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 1 January 2019. He took office after the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impe ...

. In the 2018 presidential election, the Brazilian Republican Party supported the candidate of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party,

Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the List of governors of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo (state), S� ...

. Afterwards the party started to switch its support to President

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

, reflecting their strong ideological affinity. For the 2022 Brazilian general election, the Republicans formed a coalition with the

(PL) and the Progressives (PP) in order to support Jair Bolsonaro's 2022 presidential campaign. Candidates launched by the Republicans had their image heavily associated and sometimes were endorsed by Bolsonaro. In August 2019, the Brazilian Republican Party changed its name into Republicanos. Justifying as "the name change reinforces the reformulation of the party's program and statutes... consolidating its position as a party conservative in customs and liberal in the economy”, seeking to emulate the American Republican Party. The name change came with a manifesto adopting a resolutely socially conservative position defending Christian values, the traditional family and private property.

Participation

The party leader was Marcos Pereira. The party's most important members are Bishop Marcelo Crivella,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and nephew of Universal's founder Bishop Edir Macedo, journalist Celso Russomanno and former

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

José Alencar. Famous football player Ronaldinho, also known as Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, joined the party in March 2018.

Statistics

In 2022, it had 495,136 members. In 2012, 80% of its members were Catholic and 20% evangelical, including six from the universal Church.

Ideology

The party defines itself as " Socially conservative but economically liberal", defending Christian values, the traditional family and private property. The party aligned itself with

during his government from 2018 to 2022. Some commentators say that the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a neo-charismatic church that is organized like a business enterprise, has used the party as a base for its bishops to run for political office. According to the emeritus professor of political sciences from the

University of Brasília A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, David Fleischer, "The PRB is an evangelical party." Several members, such as Celso Russomanno, are Catholic. Several leading members, such as Edir Macedo and Marcelo Crivella, have expressed statements of Christian fundamentalism and religious intolerance. A UN report accused members of the UCKG of verbal and physical attacks on members of the

Umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

and

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, especi ...

religions. Macedo considered participating in presidential elections in order to transform Brazil into a

theocratic Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's daily a ...

state. As mayor of

, Crivella called the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro an "un-Christian excess" and ordered severe financial cuts for the organisers. Furthermore, he is known for statements of religious intolerance. In his 1999 book ''Evangelizing Africa'', he claimed that homosexuality is a "terrible evil," that Catholics are "demonic", that African religions are based on "evil spirits," and that Hindus drink their children's blood. He has since tried to distance himself from the book, saying that it was the work of a young, immature missionary.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

Notable members

Current

* Hamilton Mourão - Vice President of Brazil (2019–2023) and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

(2023–present) * Marcos Pereira - Vice-President of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

(2019–present); Federal Deputy for

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

(2019–present); President of Republicans (2018–present); Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (2016–2018) * Damares Alves -

for the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

(2023-present) * Marcelo Crivella -

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

(2017–2021); Minister of Fishing and Aquaculture (2012–2014);

for

(2003–2017) * Tarcísio de Freitas - Minister of Infrastructure (2019–2022);

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

(2023–present) * Mecias de Jesus -

for

Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...

(2019–present) * Celso Russomanno - Federal Deputy for

(1995–2011; 2015–present) * Johnathan de Jesus - Federal Deputy for

(2011–present) * Silas Câmara - Federal Deputy for Amazonas (1999–present) * Rosângela Gomes - Federal Deputy for

(2015–present) * Cléber Verde - Federal Deputy for

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

(2007–present) * Pinto Itamaraty -

for

(2016–2017) * Ronaldinho -

Footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

(2018-present)

Former

* José Alencar -

(2003–2010); Minister of Defense (2004-2006);

for

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

(1999–2002) * Clarissa Garotinho - Federal Deputy for

(2015–present) * Lincoln Portela - Federal Deputy for

(1999–present) * Flávio Bolsonaro -

for

(2020–2021)

References

External links

Republicanos 10 , Portal de Notícias Oficial
Official website , - {{Brazilian political parties Political parties established in 2005 Conservative parties in Brazil Social conservative parties 2005 establishments in Brazil Christian political parties Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Brazil