Lula dismisses Minister of Tourism to try to increase support for União Brasil

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) confirmed, this Thursday (13), the resignation of the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Carneiro. The Planalto Palace reported that Lula invited federal deputy Celso Sabino (União Brasil -PA) to take office and that the parliamentarian has already accepted. Sabino’s nomination will be published in the Official Gazette of the Union in the coming years.

The invitation to Sabino was made by Lula during a meeting in which the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, also participated. The exchange is part of a strategy by the Planalto Palace in order to expand the government base within the União Brasil.

Licensed deputy, Daniela Carneiro will resume her seat in the Chamber of Deputies also on the side of União Brasil. The former minister, however, is fighting in court to leave the party and migrate to the Republicans.

The dismissal of Daniela Carneiro had been in the works for at least two weeks, after Lula heard from the leader of the União Brasil bench in the Chamber, deputy Elmar Nascimento (BA), that the party did not feel represented by the ministers appointed to the government.

In addition to the Minister of Tourism, the acronym also has Juscelino Filho, in Communications, and Waldez Góes, in Integration and Regional Development. Both, however, were nominated by Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP).

On the other hand, Daniela Carneiro was part of Lula’s personal quota and her name was nominated to compose the Esplanada dos Ministérios due to the support of her husband, the mayor of Belford Roxo, Waguinho Carneiro (Republicans), in the second round of the elections of the year past. Despite this, the minister was unable to attract votes from the União Brasil bench to the federal government in votes by the Chamber of Deputies.

“União Brasil has been showing a desire to reformulate the representation of its three ministers. It is absolutely natural for a party to want to present this. But it is on the agenda to discuss this reformulation with União Brasil. I always say that the government is like a rally: from every now and then, you need to change the driver, the tire. What matters is being on the right path”, defended the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha.

Minister of Tourism was pivotal in the first crisis of the Lula government

Still at the beginning of the Lula government, Daniela Carneiro was the pivot of the first crisis for the PT when her connection with the family of Juracy Alves Prudêncio, known as the Jura, became public, convicted of leading a militia in the Baixada Fluminense. Jura is a former sergeant in the Military Police and was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the crimes of homicide and criminal association. He has already served about 15 years.

In the 2018 campaign, Jura appeared in photos handing out holy cards alongside Daniela at a march in Baixada Fluminense. At the time, Jura was imprisoned in a semi-open regime, obtained authorization from the Justice to leave jail to work and won the position of Director of the Department of Urban Order in the City Hall of Belford Roxo, commanded by Daniela’s husband. That year, she managed to be elected federal deputy.

The Minister of Tourism, her husband and the militiaman also posed together for photos taken at other times, such as a children’s party. According to the sentences that sentenced the former PM sergeant between 2010 and 2014, Prudêncio was head of the Bonde do Jura, a militia accused of a series of homicides in Baixada Fluminense.

He has been imprisoned since 2009, when he was the main target of Operation Derailment, by the Police Station for the Repression of Organized Criminal Actions (Draco), which took nine PMs accused of being part of the militia he led behind bars.

After the revelation, Lula minimized the case and said he was “grateful” for her due to the support received in the presidential elections. In an interview with BandNews, the president admitted that the minister would be fired only if her connection with militiamen went beyond photographs. “For now I don’t think it’s bigger than that. If evidence comes along that it’s [maior do que uma foto]will leave the government,” Lula said at the time.

Celso Sabino has the support of União Brasil and Lira to take over Tourism

Celso Sabino has spent the last few weeks paving the way for his appointment to the portfolio. In addition to the support of party deputies, he has the support of the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

Elected by the PSDB in 2018, Sabino left the party after aligning himself with the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and defending that the party supported Lira instead of Baleia Rossi (MDB-SP), then Rodrigo Maia’s candidate. The deputy’s decision to support the government’s candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber culminated in the opening of a process to expel the acronym. After that, he ended up migrating to União Brasil.

Elected by the PSDB in 2018, Sabino left the party after aligning himself with the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and defending that the party supported Lira instead of Baleia Rossi (MDB-SP), then Rodrigo Maia’s candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber. The deputy’s decision to support the government’s candidate culminated in the opening of a process to expel the acronym. After that, he ended up migrating to União Brasil.

The expectation is that, with the inauguration of the deputy in the Tourism portfolio, the party will vote in its majority with the government. His nomination should be confirmed by Planalto in the next few days.