Regardless of who wins Brazil's upcoming presidential election, a decadeslong structural shift granting Congress greater control over budget allocation will likely increase institutional friction, fragment procurement processes, exacerbate corruption risks, and hinder pro-business policymaking in the coming years. Only one major candidate in Brazil's October presidential race has formed an alliance with another party, something unseen since the country's return to democracy in the late 1980s. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from the Workers' Party, will have Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, from the Brazilian Socialist Party, as his running mate, in an alliance forged in 2022. But all of the leading right-wing candidates that are running against Lula -- including Flavio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party), Renan Santos (Mission Party), Romeu Zema (New Party) and Ronaldo Caiado (Social Democrat Party) -- have selected running mates from within their respective parties, rather than forming cross-party alliances, to boost their appeal. In another...
