New Party (Brazil)

The New Party (Portuguese: Partido Novo, stylised NOVO) is a classical liberal, libertarian party in Brazil founded on 12 February 2011.

The party was registered on 23 July 2014, supported by the signatures of 493,316 citizens. Its creation was approved on 15 September 2015. The party requested to use the number "30" for election identification. It is ideologically aligned with classical liberalism.

Ideology
The New Party advocates a free market, minimal government and low taxes. It is hostile to social rights such as the Brazilian Labor Code (CLT). The party aims for the privatization of public enterprises like Petrobras and Banco do Brasil

It does not take any stance on social issues like abortion and legalization of drugs. The party is pro-gun rights and supports same sex marriage.

It is one of the few political parties in Brazil to claim to be right-wing. NOVO's aim is to tap into the PSDB electorate. Its founding president is banker João Amoêdo, who was expelled from the party for his endorsement to the Worker's Party candidate for the presidency, Lula. The party positions itself as classical liberal.

The party's proposals include reforming the ways parties are allowed to obtain funding and ending compulsory voting, and defending private financing of campaigns.

The party opposes extensive regulation in many aspects of Brazilian society and their members believe the central bank should be independent from the state.

History
Formally registered as a political party in 2015, NOVO won eight deputies in the 2018 elections and had one of its own, Romeu Zema, elected governor of Minas Gerais, Brazil's second most populous state. Its presidential candidate, João Amoêdo, obtained 2.5% of the vote.

The following years were marked by internal conflicts, which weakened Amoêdo's position, and by a rapprochement with the far-right. Amoêdo was finally expelled from the party in 2022 for his criticism of Jair Bolsonaro, whom he saw as a threat to democracy. For Amoêdo, NOVO had become a "satellite of the Liberal Party".

NOVO won only 0.47% of the vote in the 2022 presidential election and three deputies in the parliamentary elections, but managed to get Romeu Zema re-elected governor of Minas Gerais. Senator Eduardo Girão, perceived as one of the most conservative parliamentarians and close to former President Bolsonaro, decided to join the party.