Government supporters act to shield Rui Costa at the MST CPI

Despite the failure of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to block the installation of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), government parliamentarians have been successful in shielding the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, of the attempts to summon him to provide clarifications to the collegiate – at least for the time being, since the opposition deputies will be able to resume voting on the request for summoning the minister on the return of the parliamentary recess, in August.

Although it is the majority in the MST’s CPI, the opposition had to reach an agreement to ensure that other requests were approved without the government base imposing a series of instruments, provided for in the Internal Regulations of the Chamber of Deputies, to prevent voting. Without the agreement, government deputies could request anything from the reading of the minutes, to make corrections, to requests for withdrawal from the agenda or roll call votes, which take longer to complete.

Through the agreement, in exchange for not summoning Rui Costa, the opposition deputies managed to approve the summoning of the former minister of the Institutional Security Office (GSI) Gonçalves Dias and the invitation to the vice-president of Suzano Papel e Celulose, Luís Good. According to analysts, the government is choosing the “heads” it will hand over to try to protect the government and the MST.

In the negotiation with the government supporters, it was also possible to approve a series of requests that aim to clarify, for example, the land invasions promoted by the agrarian movements in Bahia, which was governed by Rui Costa between 2015 and 2022. In this sense, the invitations were approved to hear the Secretary of Public Security of Bahia, Marcelo Werner, and the commander of the Military Police of Bahia, Paulo José Reis de Azevedo Coutinho.

Bahia is the state that has registered the most land invasions since the beginning of Lula’s third government. Of the 57 invasions registered in Brazil, 17 were in Bahia, 12 were in São Paulo and 11 in Pernambuco, according to a survey carried out by the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA).

MST’s CPI can bring big problems to the government

The government’s effort to prevent Rui Costa from giving testimony to the MST’s CPI is, in the analysis of experts, a reflection of the problems that statements can bring to the government. For the political scientist and professor at Ibmec-MG, Adriano Cerqueira, the minister’s armor is due to his role in the government and in Lula’s election.

“This great effort by the government to avoid calling Rui Costa is due to his role as Minister of the Civil House. Remembering that Bahia was a decisive state in the victory that [presidente] Lula had last year and also because of the connections that the MST has with the PT leaders”, said the analyst.

The work of the MST’s CPI takes place at the same time as the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) investigates the acts of January 8th. At the CPMI, the opposition has defended the thesis that there was an omission by the security forces, already commanded by the Lula government, while the government base, majority in that collegiate, seeks to incriminate the demonstrators, accusing them of an attempted coup d’état.

In this sense, for FGV political and economic analyst Carol Curimbaba, the MST’s CPI is a bigger problem for the Lula government than the CPMI. “This CPI is the big thorn in the side of the government. In addition to being the one that only involves accusations from people related to the government, unlike the CPMI on January 8, which involves accused from both sides. The opposition group that is dominating, both the presidency and the rapporteurship as well as the majority of members, is depositing all its chips in this commission to rise to the next elections”, evaluated Curimbaba.

Political scientist Adriano Cerqueira reinforces the understanding that the Lula government may have problems with the outcome of this CPI. “The MST CPI has produced more wear and tear on the government than the [CPMI] from the 8th of January. She [CPI do MST] can bring big problems to the government. So much so that the volume of invasions dropped a lot, it has practically stopped since the work of the CPI began. And it was a partial victory for the government in the sense of not immediately calling Rui Costa”, commented Cerqueira.

For the opposition, the search for an agreement reinforces the need to summon Rui Costa

Faced with the insistence on the agreement proposed by the base of the government, opposition deputies say that the need to summon the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, has become even more evident. Deputy Lucas Redecker (PSDB-RS) analyzed the fear of some members of the CPI in relation to the summoning of Minister Rui Costa.

“This demonstrates that there is something very important or that generates a lot of fear on the left. […] Where there’s smoke there’s fire. I have 100% confirmed my distrust, given the concern of the left to bring Rui Costa here. Something very serious must happen with the selection of Rui Costa”, said Redecker.

Deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP) emphasized the efforts of the left to shield Minister Rui Costa and even mentioned his political fragility within the Lula government.

“There is, yes, a terror when talking about the summoning of Minister Rui Costa to this CPI. It’s impressive […] I haven’t seen such an effort since President Lula acted so that the secrecy of the images of the Planalto Palace would not fall, that is, this fear in relation to summoning Minister Rui Costa to this CPI smells very bad. We already know that Minister Rui Costa’s political situation is not the best. Some government parliamentarians have said: ‘No, he is strengthened’. Between us, we all know that Minister Rui Costa is not strengthened at all and that his fragility in this House, specifically, is very strong”, said Kataguiri.

In the evaluation of deputies who defend the MST, the meeting last Tuesday (12), which culminated in the agreement not to summon the minister, was “great”.

“Bolsonarists have been announcing in the press for a week that they would have a great victory this week, walling and summoning the minister. That’s not what happened. Also, no facts that could incriminate the MST were presented. So, I think it was a great session for us”, said congresswoman Sâmia Bomfim (Psol-RJ).

Deputy Valmir Assunção (PT-BA), in turn, said that there is no strategy to prevent the minister from testifying to the MST’s CPI. “I think that neither the Lula government nor Minister Rui Costa have any strategy here to prevent him from coming to this Commission. What we think is that Minister Rui Costa has to use his time to build national programs to serve the Brazilian population, which is the most in need of politics”, argued the deputy, who is an MST militant.