Editing Diretas Já (section)

==Economic situation==
The growth of the movement coincided with a deepening economic crisis, with an annual inflation of 239% in 1983. This led to the mobilization of class entities and unions. The movement linked representatives from diverse political backgrounds under the common cause of direct elections for president. Many ''pro-status quo'' politicians, sensitive to their base, had also formed a block of disagreement within the [[National Renewal Alliance Party]] (ARENA), the pro-government party, when the [[Democratic Social Party]] (PDS) was founded.

The following year, the movement gained critical mass and was able to mobilize openly. On the anniversary of the city of [[São Paulo]] (January 25), the first major assembly of the campaign for direct elections for president took place on [[Praça da Sé]], a major public square adjacent to the [[São Paulo Cathedral]], was made possible by [[André Franco Montoro]], governor of São Paulo.

By this time the Military Regime had lost much prestige with the majority of the population.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Low ranking members of the military, whose wages had fallen in real terms due to inflation, began voicing their discontent to their superiors.

On April 16, shortly before the vote in Congress which would enable direct elections for president, a final demonstration took place in [[São Paulo]] in the [[Anhangabaú River|Anhangabaú Valley]], where an estimated crowd of over 1.5 million people attended, in the largest political demonstration ever seen in Brazil.

During April 1984, President Figueiredo increased [[press censorship]] and promoted arrests and police violence. Nonetheless, a vote on the {{Lang|pt|Diretas Já}} [[Law|amendment]] (known as [[Dante de Oliveira]] law, after its author) took place on April 25, 1984. Despite 298 votes in favor, with 65 against, 112 pro-government deputies abstained, leaving the Chamber without a [[quorum]], as a result of which the bill died.

Despite the bill's failure, the movement became a catalyst for various opposition forces and a voice for popular discontent. The re-democratization process ended with the return of civil power in 1985 and the approval of a [[Constitution of Brazil#Seventh(1988 - Present)|new constitution]] in 1988, which called for the direct presidential elections in 1989, which were won by [[Fernando Collor de Mello]], the first democratically elected president since 1961.