January 8th CPMI resists government action to stop it

The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is facing difficulties in its attempt to block the installation of a Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) to investigate the acts of vandalism on January 8, proposed by the opposition.

The minimum number of signatures of deputies and senators for the opening of the inquiry has already been reached, but the organizers of the Palácio do Planalto are trying to persuade parliamentarians who have already endorsed the request to withdraw their support before the next session of Congress, still without a date set, when the president of the two legislative houses, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), should start work.

The Planalto Palace fears that the CPMI will delay the processing of urgent projects on the government’s economic agenda – such as the tax reform and the new fiscal framework.

This imbroglio confirms the inconsistency of the governing base, warned by the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) at the beginning of the week, and raises the costs of political bargaining. But, to convince the deputies and senators, the government may use the distribution of public positions in the second echelon of the federal administration and the release of amendments to the Budget.

The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, had already indicated, at the beginning of his term, that he would use the distribution of positions in the lower levels of government to strengthen the base in Congress. Nominations for boards of state-owned companies such as the Development Company of the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys (Codevasf) and the Energy Research Company (EPE) are still up for grabs.

The main targets of this government attack against the CPMI are parliamentarians from the MDB, PSD and, above all, União Brasil – parties that head ministries on the Esplanada. The mission was entrusted by President Lula to Minister Alexandre Padilha, of Institutional Relations.

An interministerial ordinance determined that the release of resources for parliamentary amendments must pass through Padilha’s scrutiny, before going to the decision of the respective ministries. The increase in power of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, under the minister’s responsibility, could already be noticed. Recently, he received in audience even parliamentarians linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), such as federal deputy Zé Trovão (PL-SC).

“They are summoning new parliamentarians to the Planalto Palace to intimidate them. Anyone who does not sign the CPMI will not receive the money, which is our right to take to the state. And I am saying this because I went there today in that meeting, to find out what they were going to talk about. And they have the nerve to want to coerce the new deputies who arrived at the house “, said Zé Trovão on Tuesday. The deputy is one of the targets in the investigation of the Supreme Court (STF) that investigates the acts of September 7.

Padilha, in defending himself, stated that the accusations are lies. “What will exist on my part and the government, [é que] we are going to dialogue with the parliament, with the deputies, to try to convince them that it is not the best way to find out who financed, who organized [os atos de vandalismo contra as sedes dos Três Poderes em 8 de janeiro]”, he explained to CNN Brazil.

In addition to appointments to directorates in regional and state superintendencies, the Executive will be able to use in this governance effort the total of R$ 8.6 billion in unpaid balances from congressmen’s appointments through the now extinct secret budget. Although provided for in the budget law, this stock of amendments does not have its mandatory disbursement, which gives ammunition to Padilha’s attacks.

CPMI request has the support of 191 deputies and 35 senators

The author of the CPMI request, Deputy André Fernandes (PL-CE) does not see the risk of losing the minimum number of support to demand that the President of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), read the document in plenary .

He claims that he continues to account for more inflows than outflows of subscriptions. Until this Wednesday (8), 191 deputies and 35 senators had signed the request. At least 171 deputies and 27 senators are needed, whose support can be added or withdrawn until the last moment.

In addition, opposition parliamentarians with whom the People’s Gazette spoke to have been pointing out signs of irritation on the part of government supporters. They estimate that the main source of concern for the Planalto Palace comes from the division of União Brasil, with about half of its 59-member bench supporting the CPMI. It so happens that, although it controls three ministries – Communications, Tourism and National Integration –, the appointments of portfolio holders are more associated with the party in the Senate, in the figure of Senator Davi Alcolumbre (AP).

For Eduardo Galvão, director in Brazil of the multinational public relations company BCW, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, is in a hurry to find new solutions to maintain economic growth in the midst of heavy indebtedness in the public and private sectors. In this sense, fiscal stability is an “important variable” for the sustainability of the economy, but the minister himself encounters resistance inside and outside the government to carry out the agenda he has presented.