Eli Borges assumes leadership of the evangelical bench in Congress

Federal deputy Eli Borges (PL-TO) assumed leadership of the evangelical bench in the National Congress for the next six months, following a relay agreement made last year with deputy Silas Câmara (Republicanos-AM).

The change of command took place this Wednesday (7) during a service in the Chamber of Deputies with the presence of parliamentarians and the Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias, representing the Executive.

The front is made up of 203 federal deputies and 26 senators from different parties. The group has a strong role in defending conservative agendas, such as the fight against drugs, gender ideology, against abortion, among others.

Pastor Marco Feliciano (PL-SP) will be the vice-president of the Evangelical Front. A People’s Gazettehe said that “the new president has a confrontational profile” and reinforced that the bench’s priorities this year will be defined in a meeting, after the carnival holiday.

Representative Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ), former leader of the Front, stated that the new president “will continue the good work of Silas Câmara”. He highlighted that “each one has its own characteristics”, but assured that “the focus of the work will be the same”.

“I am convinced that the Evangelical Front will continue to fulfill its mission in defending our values”, highlighted Sóstenes to People’s Gazette.

This year, the relationship between evangelicals and the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was already turbulent due to the end of the tax exemption granted to religious leaders. And the PT is still trying to combat Fake News that accuses President Lula of promoting the closing of churches.

Profile

An evangelical pastor from Goiás, Borges was re-elected in the last election for a second term as federal deputy for Tocantins. He has been a member of the Liberal Party (PL) since April 2022. Previously, when he was part of Solidariedade, he served as deputy leader of the party in the Chamber. In public life he has also been a councilor and state deputy.

In February 2022, the deputy became spokesperson for the Evangelical Parliamentary Front in Congress. An ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Borges is also a defender of conservative agendas. In an interview with Gazeta do Povo, he said that his biggest challenge as a parliamentarian was to prevent the advancement of agendas such as neutral language, gender ideology, health passport and legalization of marijuana.

Borges has also criticized the conduct of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) regarding its actions on issues sensitive to conservatism. “As they are legislating – and, sometimes, they want to be president of the Republic too –, it is regrettable to say, but we run the risk of the toga dictatorship wanting to impose this [o aborto] down our throats”, he declared. At the time, he stated that he believed that in 2023 the evangelical bench would increase. This growth actually occurred, with just over 25% of parliamentarians in the Chamber and 17% in the Senate.