On Wednesday (01/02), Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD) was re-elected as president of the Senate and Federal Deputy Arthur Lira (PP) was re-elected as president of the Chamber of Deputies. Both will remain in these positions for the next two years. The candidacies of both had the support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who aligned himself to them to seek support within Congress during his term. Thus, their victory was seen by media outlets and experts as a political victory for the federal government.
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The Dispute in the Senate
Pacheco received 49 votes against 32 from his opponent Rogério Marinho (PL). In 2021, the re-elected president received more votes in favor, 57. The fact shows the bigger division present in the Senate this time, which was created by the elections of a large number of senators aligned with Bolsonaro.
The Senate race reflected the political polarization in the country. On one hand, allies of President Lula aligned themselves with Pacheco. The opposition, formed by supporters of former President Bolsonaro, supported Marinho.
According to analysts, the PL tried to place Marinho in the Presidency to make a stand against STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes – in charge of the inquiries that investigate the many incidents in which supporters of Bolsonaro are involved, including the attacks to the Three Powers Plaza –, due to the powers the Senate has over the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Pacheco’s allies reinforced the discourse that it was necessary to re-elect him to stop the coup attempt by Bolsonaro’s supporters.
The Dispute in the House of Deputies
Lira had 464 votes, the record for an election in the House. Lira is one of the main political articulators of the political group called “Centrão”. An important group to which the Presidents tend to align themselves when in need of a political base in the Congress.
Lira was an ally of then-president Jair Bolsonaro and helped to approve projects of the Executive. However, since October, he started to approach himself to President Lula and helped him approve a project that allows the government to pay the R$ 600 to poor families through the social program called “Bolsa Família.
Strategic Positions
The presidents of the House and of the Senate are the second and third in the succession line of the Presidency of the Republic, respectively. As leaders of Congress, they have in their hands a power of decision that ranges from ascending the majority of congressmen to deciding on rites that can even lead to the impeachment of a President of the Republic.
It is up to the President of the Chamber, for example, to decide in a monocratic way whether an impeachment request against the Chief Executive should start being analyzed. Two presidents of the Republic have been impeached in history, Fernando Collor de Mello, in 1992, and Dilma Rousseff, in 2016.
The Presidents of the House and Senate also define which bills will be put to the vote, who should report them, in addition to a series of other decisions with legislative and administrative implications.
Finally, the commanders of Congress also have the power to decide where to allocate billions of the budget.
Solidifying Support
Media outlets disclosed that, after the congressional elections, emissaries of President Lula intensified talks with parties that supported the government of Jair Bolsonaro, seeking to strengthen the government’s position. The initiative would involve negotiations for low-level positions in the government in exchange of support for the approval of projects proposed by the new government. Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha would be in the center of such negotiations. He has already had meetings with chiefs of Republicans, Brazil Union, Progressist Party.
In addition, part of the group of evangelical congressmen has been getting closer to President Lula. This is on of the most important political group in the Congress – corresponds to half of the parliamentary front –, and it had been one of Bolsonaro’s most important alliances.
