What is the vice that will govern the SP during Tarcísio’s 17 days of vacation

On vacation in the United States from Thursday (12/26), the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), will be replaced in office by vice-governor Felício Ramuth (PSD) until January 11. It will take 17 days to sit in the governor’s chair.

Now 57, Ramuth was a PSDB politician for 29 years before migrating to the PSD.

He served as mayor of São José dos Campos for two terms, one of which was incomplete (2017-2022). In the second case, municipal management was entrusted to Vice President Anderson Farias (PSD) when he resigned after one year and four months in office to run for state governor, before stepping down to become Tarcísio’s vice candidate.

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The call for Ramuth to run in the 2022 elections came from Gilberto Kassab, national president of the PSD, who even announced that he was then a pre-candidate in this conflict for the PSD.

A factor that contributed to his disaffiliation from Tucana was the announcement of then-governor Rodrigo Garcia, at the time affiliated with the DEM, now União Brasil, as a candidate for re-election by the PSDB, the same party as Ramuth in 2022.

Kassab thus changed the political game, eliminating Ramuth from the race for head of the Palácio dos Bandeirantes and placing him as a candidate for vice-governor on the list of Tarcísio de Freitas.

Today, although he is discreet, Ramuth enjoys a strong presence within the Tarcísio government in specific areas. He led the movements to eliminate the concentration of crack users from the surroundings of Estação da Luz, in the central region of the capital of São Paulo, known as Cracolândia.

Another banner of the Tarcísio government that counts with the work of the vice-governor is the concession of public companies. Ramuth is chairman of the National Privatization Council.

Stones on the path

Ramuth’s name is among those mentioned for a possible succession to Tarcísio, if the governor runs for President of the Republic.

In this scenario, the vice president would become governor starting in April, with the legal obligation to disqualify Tarcísio from this position. The months leading up to the gubernatorial campaign are seen as an asset for a possible succession.

4 picturesClose the modal.1 of 4Reproduction2 of 4

Lieutenant Governor Felicio Ramuth

Karine Santos / State Government of SP3 of 4

The governor of the SP, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), is listened to with a smile by the vice Felício Ramuth (PSD) and the mayor of the capital Ricardo Nunes (MDB)

Reproduction/ Youtube4 out of 4

The vice-governor of São Paulo, Felício Ramuth, and the president of the PSD, Gilberto Kassab

Disclosure; Bruna Sampaio and Carol Jacob/Alesp

However, the future is uncertain, especially after the announcement of the pre-candidacy of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), Tarcísio’s ally, for the Palácio do Planalto.

And even if Tarcísio ran for president, Ramuth would compete for his succession with other central parties, such as the MDB, led by the capital’s mayor Ricardo Nunes, and the PL, led by the president of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp), André do Prado.

Even within the party itself, there is a possibility of internal conflict with Kassab, also being considered for governor if Tarcísio runs for president.

Toucan “Alckmist”

Ramuth’s first experience in public life was in 2005 as president of the Urbanizadora Municipal de São José dos Campos (Urbam).

The presidency of the municipal corporation took place during the first year of the mandate of Eduardo Cury (PSDB) as mayor of the interior city of São Paulo. Subsequently, Ramuth served as municipal secretary of Transportation.

With a long history in the PSDB, Ramuth was considered an “Alckimist toucan” for being part of the political group of the current Vice-President of the Republic Geraldo Alckmin (today in the PSB).

Alckmin’s alliance with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), however, cooled ties with Ramuth, a critic of PT governments. Nevertheless, Alckmin’s move to Lula’s list was the political move that allowed Kassab to work together to make him Tarcísio’s vice president.

Ramuth tells his interlocutors that, at the end of 2021, Alckmin contacted him to tell him that he would appear again at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes. The mayor of São José dos Campos at the time showed his support. But the following year, Alckmin announced to him, in a bakery he frequented in Morumbi, that he was going to become Lula’s vice-president and that he no longer had Ramuth’s electoral support.

Artistic past

Coming from a Jewish family, he studied theater with international actor Caco Ciocler at Sociedade Hebraica, a Jewish club in São Paulo. They even starred in a play called “The Genius of Crime”.

Also within the Jewish community, Ramuth practiced Israeli folk dancing. In addition, the lieutenant governor says he knows the ballet schedules.

However, he pursued his political and business career more diligently. At the age of 17, he and his brother took over his father’s hardware and wood store in São José dos Campos. Years later, he graduated in Business Administration and received an MBA in Public Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).

One of his companies has, however, been the target of suspicion in the past. The São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPSP) opened an investigation in 2017 into allegations of fraud in three tenders in Praia Grande, on the São Paulo coast.

Direct, of which Ramuth was a partner, won one of the contracts, while CSJ won two other tenders. The MPSP then stressed that he had acted as a consultant to the CSJ, which already had common partners with Direct.

Ramuth, through his defense, denies irregularities and claims that he was only responsible for one of the contracted companies, without “any participation in the internal phase” of the competition. The attorneys also say other companies were invited to compete, but were not interested in the competitions.