how will the election for president of the house be

The Senate will swear in this Wednesday (February 1st), starting at 3 pm, the 27 senators elected in October. And, soon afterwards, it elects its new president – ​​who will command the House until February 2025.

So far, there are three candidates: the current president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), candidate for re-election with the support of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT); Senator-elect Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), from the group of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL); and senator Eduardo Girão (Podemos-CE), a self-declared independent candidate. In theory, it is possible that there will be other candidates who apply on election day.

Rodrigo Pacheco is seen as a favorite. But Marinho has the support of the parties that formed Bolsonaro’s base – PL, Republicans and PP – and has dissidents in the subtitles that formalized support for Pacheco. Girão runs on the outside, with remote chances of victory.

The winner of the election will be the one who has an absolute majority of votes (at least 41 of the 81 senators) in a secret ballot. If no one wins a majority in the first round, there will be a second round of voting with the two best voted. The session to elect the new president of the Senate begins when the plenary has a minimum quorum of 41 senators.

Senate will choose other members of the Board of Directors

In addition to the president, the 81 senators will also choose the other members of the Board of Directors: two vice-presidents, four secretaries and four alternates. The Board of Directors is responsible for conducting the administrative and legislative decisions of the Senate.

It is not yet certain when the election for the other positions on the Bureau will take place. If there is agreement and consent of at least 27 senators (one third of parliamentarians), the election can be held as early as Wednesday. If there is no agreement, the election will remain for the session on Thursday (2), at 10 am.

The choice of the other members of the Bureau is usually made by agreement between benches and taking into account the proportionality between them: parties with more senators hold the most important positions.

If there is a deal, the election is usually a mere formality, to endorse the previously chosen name. But there is not always an agreement and sometimes there are disputes in the plenary. The choice for the other positions on the Board of Directors also usually depends on the election for the presidency of the House – the winner usually comes out stronger to shelter allies in the other functions of direction of the Senate.