Centrão deputies attribute the caution of the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (Progressistas-AL), in the case of the conviction of deputy Daniel Silveira (PTB-RJ) to a strategy not to displease the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). According to government allies, Lira indicated that the Court could prohibit the payment of the Rapporteur’s amendments (RP-9), the source of billionaire resources from the secret budget, as a form of retaliation for any direct interference by Congress in this matter.
As revealed by Estadão, the secret budget is a scheme through which the government of President Jair Bolsonaro won support in Congress. Behind the scenes of the relationship between the Powers, Lira received a message that the flow of payment for these amendments would be blocked again by the ministers if he promoted a confrontation with the Court’s decision. Lira relayed the information to bench leaders.
With the payment of amendments suspended, the president of the Chamber would lose one of his main powers and electoral assets, as would the government politicians awarded the funds. To Estadão, a deputy who heard the message said that Lira felt “blackmailed”. The issue became a problem because parliamentarians rely on this budget to gain support, in search of reelection.
The secret budget resources have always been managed without transparency, in a direct relationship between the Planalto Palace and the summit of Congress. The model follows political interests, benefiting deputies and senators allied to the government and its electoral strongholds.
After the series of reports by Estadão, the scheme began to be scrutinized in a lawsuit judged by the Supreme Court, which demanded changes in its functioning. The transfers were temporarily suspended. In December, Minister Rosa Weber, rapporteur for the secret budget, released the payment of funds, but demanded changes to publicize the beneficiaries and political sponsors of the nominations. The case still depends on a collective decision in the plenary of the STF.
So far, Lira has not spoken publicly about Silveira’s case. The president of the Chamber only presented an appeal – on the night of his colleague’s conviction, still during the trial – so that the Supreme Court could appreciate the request of Congress. The request is for the Legislature to have the final word on the loss of mandate of deputies and senators, instead of the Judiciary decreeing “automatic” impeachment. Sought by Estadão, Lira did not respond.
Bolsonaro told evangelical allies that he decided to face the Supreme Court and forgive his ally Silveira for understanding that Congress “did not have the strength to react”.
Divergence
The president issued a decree of constitutional grace on Thursday, 21, even before the final decision, when appeals are still available. With the measure, he challenged the legal interpretation of the ten STF ministers who sentenced Silveira to 8 years and 9 months in prison for attacks on democracy. Military ministers supported the decision of the Chief Executive, but auxiliaries from Centrão were against it.
With the pardon, Bolsonaro would solve what parliamentarians consider one of the three consequences of Silveira’s conviction: prison. The Chamber, according to Bolsonaristas, must now resolve the second: the loss of mandate. The third, ineligibility, would have to be legally discussed later.
Bolsonaro’s base moves to contest Silveira’s impeachment, with Lira’s consent. One of the deputies in charge of the strategy is Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ), president of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front. According to the deputy, his team of advisors is working on the draft of a draft legislative decree to “make it clear that the plenary has autonomy over removal from office”.
The group wants to start a movement to collect signatures and try to convince Lira to guide the draft legislative decree, instead of articulating it from the top of the Chamber. Thus, it would be up to Lira, in the position of president of the House, only to inform the president of the STF, Minister Luiz Fux, about the initiative of the other deputies.
The government’s allies in Congress are trying to find a legislative solution to nullify the entire Silveira process. The idea is to grant amnesty to him, in an explicit confrontation with the Court. The counteroffensive has been planned by Bolsonaristas such as Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) and Coronel Tadeu (PL-SP). Centrão parliamentarians, however, believe that support for the proposal will be lacking for two reasons: Silveira is not well-liked among his peers and, in addition, several of them are defendants or investigated in the STF.
This Friday, the 22nd, Bolsonaro gave a new demonstration that he intends to politically strengthen the ideological wing of his governing base by nominating, once again, Deputy Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ) to compose the group of deputy leaders guided by the Plateau in the Chamber.
Otoni had already held the position in 2020, but was removed precisely because of offenses against Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF. At the time, he apologized and claimed “freedom of speech”. Even so, he was denounced by the Attorney General’s Office, accused of defamation, insult and coercion.
