Impasse over amendments delayed Lira’s succession, says deputy

The Majority Leader in the House, Deputy Andre Figueiredo (PDT-CE), said this Tuesday (September 3, 2024) that the imbroglio over the amendments between the Executive and Legislative branches delayed the announcement by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), about which candidate he will support to succeed him in 2025.

“It was expected [a indicação de Lira] in August, but we followed all this fuss that was created in terms of the budget issue, of blocked amendments, approved amendments. So this really messed up the deadline”, declared. Figueiredo highlighted that Lira’s official announcement could be made this week, but it could also be postponed and only be made on September 15.

The STF (Supreme Federal Court) gave a deadline for sending a proposal for the amendments constructed between the Legislative and Executive branches until Monday (9th September), and the expectation of some congressmen is that the official announcement of the candidate will be made after this deadline to give strength to the announced name.

Even though there was no agenda in the Chamber during the week, Lira called the leaders who were in Brasília for a meeting at his official residence. The deputy from Alagoas intends to hold new meetings over the next few days, including with the president. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and with the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Among the 3 candidates in the race, only Elmar Birth (União Brasil-BA) attended. The congressman is the leader of the largest bloc in the Lower House and Lira’s favorite, but he faces resistance from some deputies, who consider him harsh in his day-to-day dealings.

The other 2 candidates, Antonio Brito (PSD-BA) and Marcos Pereira (Republicans-SP), signaled that they will not give up and may even join forces in a joint ticket, in the event of Lira supporting Elmar.

According to Figueiredo, Elmar himself stated that he would give up his candidacy if necessary to keep the Chamber united and avoid fragmentation among the leaders.

“He has already said yes, he has already told the other two that if there is a combination of forces that allows another candidate to be chosen, he will have no problem in giving it up. Today, he is the favorite, he has managed to build the greatest number of party supports.”said the Majority Leader.