President of the House tries to conciliate appetite of PSD, União Brasil, MDB and PT for spaces in the Bureau and for the command of commissions
A few days before the election for the presidency of the Senate, leaders of parties that support Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) move to come out on top in the bargain for positions on the Board of Directors and in charge of the main committees if the miner is re-elected.
With difficulty reconciling the appetite of PSD, União Brasil, MDB and PT, Pacheco intensified the agenda of conversations in his official residence. In several cases, two or more of these legends claim the same space in the structure of the House.
The most coveted positions are the 1st vice-presidency and the 1st secretary of the Senate and the presidencies of CCJ (Commission on Constitution and Justice), of the CAE (Commission on Economic Affairs) and the CRE (Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense).
The agreement initially coordinated by Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) –the main electoral supporter of Pacheco– would maintain Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB) in the 1st vice-presidency and management Rogerio Carvalho (PT-SE) to the 1st secretary.
However, the majority of PT senators complain about Carvalho for having worked out a deal directly with his colleagues at the board of directors, without consulting the bench – who wanted to claim the 1st vice and nominate Humberto Costa (EP) for the post.
the senator Eliziane Gama (Cidadania-MA) also intended to run for 1st runner-up. Her likely migration to Pacheco’s PSD, however, should deter her from this postulation.
Occupying the 1st vice-presidency gives visibility. Whoever holds the position assumes the conduct of deliberative sessions when the holder is absent from the plenary and represents the Senate institutionally when the president is unable to do so.
The 1st secretary is a kind of “town hall” of the Senate, with final say on the budget and contracts of the House and all appointments to commissioned positions. This administrative power weighs heavily on the internal influence of those who assume the post.
A wing of the PSD is dissatisfied with the articulations of Pacheco and Alcolumbre, considering that, as it is the party of the President of the Senate (if re-elected) and the one with the largest bench, it should receive positions in greater quantity and importance.
One of the representatives of this ward is Lucas Barreto (AP), which is considering launching a candidate for 1st secretary outside the agreement.
The House presidency election will be held on Wednesday (Feb.1, 2023), right after the inauguration of the 27 senators elected in 2022, scheduled for 3 pm.
Once the president of the Senate is elected for the next biennium, the leaders of the benches meet to announce the formation of blocks and, in a negotiation that involves political criteria and party proportionality, distribute the commands of commissions.
The choice of the other members of the board of directors will be for the morning of Thursday (Feb 2).
COMMISSIONS
The stalemate between Pacheco’s allies extends to commissions. Everyone knows that Davi Alcolumbre sewed his own permanence in the presidency of the CCJ for another 2 years.
Alcolumbre’s project is to preserve political power in command of the main Senate committee to return to the presidency of the House in 2025 and, in case of victory, to be re-elected in 2027.
For this, it has the support of a hard core of senators composed of Pacheco, Rogério Carvalho, Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM) and Marcos Rogério (PL-RO) – this currently licensed from the mandate.
However, there are those in the Senate who see excess power in the hands of Alcolumbre and his group – and not just within the House. From him came the appointments of ministers Waldez Goes (National Integration) and Juscelino Filho (Communications).
The CAE must remain in the hands of the PSD. Today, CRE is the most disputed. In the Senate, the most current version is that the commission was promised by Pacheco’s group to Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL). The PSD, in the figure of Daniella Ribeiro (PB), and the PT also wanted to command it.
THE Power360 found that the real interest of Renan Calheiros would be to continue as Majority Leader in the Senate. The position guarantees participation and a word in the meeting of the college of leaders – a decisive instance for choosing the proposals that will be guided by the plenary and the committees.
Also in the running for CRE is the current president of the collegiate, Hope Amin (PP-SC). In the final months of 2022, he agreed to assume a buffer term at the head of the commission under the condition that his acronym indicates him to lead it definitively from 2023.
The PP can also conquer the CRA (Commission on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform). The most quoted is Tereza Cristina (MS), who was Minister of Agriculture in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and supports Rogério Marinho (PL-RN) in the Senate presidency election.
EN CORNERED
Even presenting the credentials of being the president’s party Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to claim the command of one of the 3 main committees, the PT sees itself as the target of an attempt to empty the Senate by other major parties.
The expectation is to remain in command of the CAS (Social Affairs Committee) and the CDH (Commission on Human Rights) – want to prevent the latter from ending up in the hands of Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), former minister of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Behind the scenes, PT members admit their frustration at commanding collegiate bodies with functions with little political influence.
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