Gilberto Kassab (; born 12 August 1960) is a Brazilian politician and former mayor of São Paulo. His term ended in 2012. A civil engineer and economist, one of the most famous Brazilians of Lebanese descent, Kassab took over from José Serra, after Serra decided to run for governor of São Paulo.
He belongs to the Syrian community of São Paulo, and is a member of the Partido Social Democrático (PSD). He is mentioned in 2017 among the beneficiaries of bribes from the multinational JBS.
Political career 1993–1994: Councillor of São Paulo 1995–1999: State Deputy of São Paulo 1999–2004: Federal Deputy (resigned to run as vice mayor of São Paulo alongside José Serra) 2005–2006: Vice Mayor of São Paulo 2006–2013: Mayor of São Paulo (re-elected on 26 Oct 2008 for a four-year term)
Administration The advertising industry criticized the city of São Paulo administration for the Cidade Limpa law, which prohibits all forms of external media and visual pollution such as billboards. Ad companies tried to keep the billboards in the streets with injunctions, but the supreme court determined the law to be constitutional. At any rate, support for the initiative from the public continues to be widespread.
Kassab appeared in Morgan Spurlock's 2011 documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.
2022 presidential bid In July 2021, Kassab announced that he would support Rodrigo Pacheco in the 2022 presidential election.
Operation Car Wash
The biggest implicated company, Odebrecht kept an entire department to coordinate the payment of bribes to politicians. In Operation Car Wash, officers seized several electronic spreadsheets linking the payments to nicknames. Every corrupt politician received a nickname based on physical characteristics, public trajectory, personal infos, owned cars/boats, origin place or generic preferences. Gilberto Kassab's nickname was 'Chefe Turco' and 'Kibe', the Portuguese translation of 'Turkish Boss' and 'Kibbeh', respectively, alluding to his Middle Eastern ancestry.
Electoral history +ElectionPartyOfficeCoalitionRunning mateFirst roundSecond roundResultVotes%Votes%1992 São Paulo municipal electionPLCity councillorBoa Sorte Sçao Paulo (PDS, PTB, PL)13,4410.25 (#37)1994 São Paulo state electionState deputySão Paulo de Todos Nós (PMDB, PL, PSD) 36,3060.34 (#44)1998 São Paulo state electionPFLFederal deputyViva São Paulo (PPB, PFL, PL, PSL, PST, PRN)92,8660.59 (#37)2002 São Paulo state electionFederal deputySão Paulo em Boas Mãos (PSDB, PFL, PSD)234,5091.19 (#9)2004 São Paulo municipal electionVice-mayor Ética e Trabalho (PSDB, PFL, PPS)José Serra (PSDB)2,686,39643.56 (#1)3,330,17954.86 (#1)2008 São Paulo municipal electionDEMMayor São Paulo no Rumo Certo (DEM, PMDB, PR, PRP, PV, PSC)Alda Marco Antônio (PMDB)2,140,42333.61 (#1)3,790,55860.72 (#1)2014 São Paulo state electionPSDSenator São Paulo quer o Melhor (PMDB, PDT, PSD, PP, PROS)1,128,5825.89 (#3)
References
External links Official page (Portuguese) BBC News article about Cidade Limpa Folha de S.Paulo first page with a before-after picture (Portuguese) CityMayors profile (much incorrect information)