Cláudio Castro’s deputy announces his trip to the MDB and creates a crisis – 01/04/2024 – Power

The vice-governor of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Pampolha (União Brasil) created a crisis in the Cláudio Castro (PL) administration by communicating his decision to join the MDB.

The change has been read by the governor’s allies as a betrayal due to the choice of a party closer to the Lula government (PT) weeks after the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) advanced investigations against Castro — who is affiliated with Jair Bolsonaro’s party. .

Pampolha denies this and says he received support in choosing the party, although he recognizes differences over the timing of the definition.

Pampolha’s intention to change parties was no secret in the government. He had already been holding conversations with other acronyms, such as the PP.

The movement has as its backdrop the dispute over the government. Pampolha expects to be in charge of the Guanabara Palace during the 2026 elections, given that Castro aims to run for the Senate, which would force him to resign in March of that year.

The vice-governor, however, fears that he will not have space in the party, which will be in the hands of the president of the Legislative Assembly, Rodrigo Bacellar — changing from PL to União Brasil and seen as a potential candidate.

In a meeting with Castro and secretaries this Wednesday morning (4), Bacellar presented Castro with the option of not leaving his position in 2026, with the guarantee of a place at the State Court of Auditors.

“The deputies I spoke to all supported the suggestion,” Bacellar told Sheet.

The change may also have an impact on the space given to the MDB in the government. The acronym currently has two secretariats. As Pampolha is also Secretary of Environment and Sustainability, the number would rise to three. At this morning’s meeting, Castro was also encouraged to withdraw a portfolio from the MDB.

Pampolha told Sheet that Castro did not oppose the choice of the party, which is also part of the base of the state government. According to him, the governor only questioned the moment of choice in the conversation, due to the possibility of creating the União Brasil federation with the PP and the Republicans.

The vice president says he needed to decide his political destiny at the beginning of this year so that he could contribute to the municipal elections, also deciding the lives of allies.

“Many councilors wanted to know where I was going, to decide my life this year. I chose a party from Cláudio’s base also to align the party’s orientation with the objectives of our political leader, who is the governor”, he said.

The deputy governor states that there is no crisis in the government, but only the intention of “people who want to create friction where there is none”.

Pampolha became vice-president during the elections, after former deputy Washington Reis, from MDB, was vetoed by the Electoral Court due to the Clean Record Law.

With discreet actions, he had been appointed by Castro as a natural successor. However, the possible intention of Bacellar, an ally of the governor, to run for the position has always generated doubts in the vice president about the real support for the endeavor.

The governor, in turn, is facing a delicate political moment after the STJ authorized the breaking of his banking, tax and telematic secrecy and searches against three people he trusts, including his foster brother Vinicius Sarciá.

The case sent a warning signal to the governor, who canceled a planned trip to China, scheduled for January 3rd. After the official visit to the Asian country, Castro would go on vacation with his family in the United States and would only return at the end of the month. He postponed the plans.

The reason is precisely the investigations. Allies of the governor heard by the Sheet claim that the operation against Sarciá Rocha (who is the son of Castro’s stepmother) was felt as a harsh blow by the governor, due to the closeness between the two.

The PF investigation investigates a scheme to divert money from state social assistance programs, between 2017 and 2020 — a time when Castro was a councilor and, later, vice-governor.

The head of the Guanabara Palace is being investigated on suspicion of having received bribes from businesspeople linked to social projects, as shown by the allegations of businessman Marcus Vinícius Azevedo da Silva, a former advisor to Castro, and Bruno Selem, an employee of Servlog, a company involved in the scheme.

According to investigations, Sarciá is one of the operators of the embezzlement of public funds. He and Castro deny the accusations.

On the day of the operation, the governor released a note saying that the development of the case through precautionary measures, four years after the accusations came to light, shows that “there is nothing against him”.