Government tries last card against CPMI of January 8

Opposition parliamentarians are denouncing an action by leaders of government-based parties with the purpose of convincing deputies and senators to withdraw their signatures en bloc in support of the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) destined to investigate the acts of vandalism on 8 January.

In messages posted since Wednesday (12), they say that there is a movement to promote a stampede of signatures on the eve of April 18, Tuesday, when the first session of Congress should take place. On this occasion, the CPMI will be installed by the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), if it has enough signatures by midnight of the previous day. Pacheco pledged to comply with the regiment.

The request, filed by deputy André Fernandes (PL-CE), for the creation of the collegiate has the support of 189 deputies and 33 senators, more than the minimum necessary, 171 in the Chamber and 27 in the Senate.

In addition to pressure from the leaders, this attack against the CPMI would rely on the instruments of persuasion already used by the government, in the form of releasing parliamentary amendments to the Budget and positions in the second federal echelon.

Opposition parliamentarians promise, in reaction, to publicly expose the names of those who withdraw their signatures in support of the commission. According to deputy Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO), Chamber colleagues reported the harassment of their party leaders in recent days, with the guidance that signatures be withdrawn in the last minutes of Monday, shortly before the deadline for changing of positioning.

“The strategy is to withdraw signatures at the last possible moment so as not to give the opposition time to go out in search of new signatures. It is an immoral and criminal action and the betrayal of those who turn against the CPMI for personal gain needs to be known by all of society”, he protested. “Whoever participates in this orchestration will be committing political suicide, as their names will never be forgotten”, he provoked.

The session is scheduled to start at noon on Tuesday and the reading of the request can be done in the first hour, before voting hours.

Deputy André Fernandes’ advisory confirmed that it was aware of the new action to overthrow the CPMI and is monitoring the withdrawal of signatures. According to reports they received, leaders would be instructing deputies to seek the withdrawal of a previously defined group of colleagues, mentioned by name.

Deputy Maurício Marcon (Podemos-RS) also said that there are reports of systematic pressure from leaders for parliamentarians to withdraw their signatures in exchange for positions and amendments to the Budget, in an effort to make the total number of support lower together in order to “ dissipate political weariness”.

The congressman from Rio Grande do Sul added that holders of the Chamber licensed to hold public office will be able to resume their mandates only to annul the signature of their substitutes. “This is Planalto’s last effort so that we will not discover certain things that happened on January 8th”, he concluded. Behind the scenes, there is information that the PSD is leading the final effort to empty the commission of inquiry.

Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), defender of the creation of the CPMI, stated that the population demands transparency and seeks “to know the whole truth” about the vandalism in Praça dos Três Poderes, which took place on January 8. Although he failed to notice the recent movement by government supporters in the Senate against the commission, he promised to remain vigilant.

Fernandes denounced Lula and Padilha for their efforts to block CPMI

The CPMI, supported by the opposition, aims to investigate those responsible and, above all, whether there was any omission by federal authorities in the case. Since gathering signatures for the application began, reports have emerged from behind the scenes in Congress that the government has been working to prevent its creation.

On the 15th, deputy André Fernandes denounced Lula and the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) for using tactics to undermine the request for the creation of the CPMI.