Government maneuver to remove opposition seat at CPMI generates impasse

The Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) that will investigate the acts of vandalism on January 8 was made official this Wednesday (26) and is already facing an impasse regarding its composition: the opposition questions a last-minute maneuver by the government base to obtain one more of the 16 vacancies on the collegiate that are destined for senators, out of a total of 32 (another 16 are reserved for deputies). The decision depends on the President of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG).

On Tuesday (25), the leader of the government in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), transferred his party from the “Democracy” parliamentary bloc, formed by MDB, PSDB, PDT, Podemos and União Brasil, to the “Democratic Resistance”, composed of PT, PSD and PSB. This move took place in the Senate and ended up giving the “Resistência Democrática” bloc one more seat on the commission, that is, this group could nominate six senators, the same number as the “Democracy” bloc. Each block had 29 senators.

As the distribution is defined by the proportionality of senators that make up these blocks, the loser, in the end, was the opposition. The block formed by PL and Novo, called “Vanguarda” and composed of 13 senators, had, before the maneuver, the right to three seats in the CPMI. Then it went down to just two. There is also the “Aliança” bloc, made up of ten PP and Republican senators, which will nominate two names for the CPMI.

The leader of the opposition in the House, Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), contested the change, and the president of Congress asked for more time to consult advisors and parliamentarians before giving a response.

Members of Novo no Congresso directly and heavily charged the President of Congress for a condemnation of the Casuistic change of the Network from one block to another.

“The vacancy in question does not belong to the New Senate, but to the opposition. The same one the government wants to take. I hope that Senator Rodrigo Pacheco will assess the issue with complete seriousness”, said Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) to People’s Gazette.

Marinho criticized the government’s action to dominate the CPMI, classifying it as “undemocratic and arrogant”. “Without exemption there is no balance, which should compromise the search for truth and the credibility of the commission”, he underlined, also criticizing the government’s attempt to occupy all command positions in the CPMI. He defends that the presidency and the rapporteur should be one with the opposition and the other with the government, regardless of party affiliation. “The most important thing is the exempt profile,” he said.

The leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), in turn, said again that the CPMI will “confirm the opposition’s connection” with the acts of vandalism in Brasília. “The government has nothing to fear. Contrary to the other side, which will have the commission of inquiry explain those responsible for acts of barbarism”, he criticized.

Decision in the Chamber will pass through Arthur Lira’s superblock

The application of proportionality makes the composition and choice of names for the presidency and the rapporteur uncertain. The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), is already working to secure one of these positions for his party superblock, preferably for a PP parliamentarian.

In the Chamber, most of the committee will be made up of parliamentarians from the Lira superbloc. The nomination of the members will be made by deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), leader of the bloc.