Lula’s return to the Planalto tries to rehabilitate José Dirceu’s political capital

The return of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the Planalto Palace created a movement within the PT to publicly rehabilitate former minister José Dirceu, convicted of corruption in the monthly allowance scandal and Operation Lava Jato. Despite not having a position in the current government, Dirceu exerts a strong influence within the PT bench and even among members of the Centrão parties, with whom he maintains regular conversations.

Dirceu’s official reappearance took place in February, during the PT’s 43rd anniversary, where he won a chair on stage alongside names such as former president Dilma Rousseff and the party’s president, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR). On the occasion, Lula defended that the former minister “put his face out”.

“I happened to see Zé Dirceu sitting there, almost hidden. I think you don’t have to hide. You have to show your face. We have to fight to build another narrative in Brazilian society. No party was more massacred than the PT”, said the president.

Dirceu was hospitalized this year for five days to treat a subdural hematoma (which could have been caused by a blow to the head, but details were not disclosed). He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for numerous crimes, but is currently free.

The former minister was one of the most important men in the first Lula government, between 2003 and 2005. His departure from the Civil House took place in the midst of the monthly allowance scandal, denounced by then-deputy Roberto Jefferson (PTB).

At the time, Dirceu was accused of leading the organization of the bribe payment scheme for deputies in exchange for support for the approval of government proposals in Congress. In December 2005, the former minister’s mandate as federal deputy was revoked for breach of parliamentary decorum.

For Lula, however, the former minister is a “political agent and should not be penalized forever”. “No one can be penalized for life. No one can be perpetually criminalized in politics. José Dirceu is a political agent, a political activist, of the highest quality. He is returning to participate in PT events”, reinforced Lula during an interview The CNN Brazil.

José Dirceu acted for Lula to be the PT candidate after leaving prison in Curitiba

“Comrade Zé Dirceu, [quero] thank you, because I know how much you were supportive of what I went through”, said Lula during the PT’s anniversary event.

Government interlocutors claim that Dirceu was one of the main incentives for Lula to be a candidate for the Presidency again after leaving prison in Curitiba, in 2019. At that point, the former president had not yet recovered his political rights and PT members were already working with the name of Fernando Haddad to be the candidate against Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the 2022 dispute.

Despite this, Dirceu is pointed out by PT members as one of the leaders who defended the idea that the party should work for Lula to rehabilitate his political rights before the election. The former president left prison after the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided to overturn the possibility of arresting convicts in second instance. Until then, Lula had been signaling that he intended to leave public life to live with Rosângela Silva, known as Janja.

Lula’s political rights were only recovered, however, in April 2021, when STF Minister Edson Fachin decided to annul all of Lula’s convictions by Lava Jato. The minister also declared the incompetence of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, the first instance of Lava Jato, to judge cases involving the PT. Lula had already been convicted in three instances in the case of the Guarujá triplex and in two others in the case of the Atibaia site.

The decision was endorsed by the plenary of the Court, which declared the suspicion of the then judge Sergio Moro in the judgment of the cases.

José Dirceu maintains influence over the PT bench in the National Congress

Despite Lula’s public nods, Planalto members claim that José Dirceu has no intention of occupying positions within the government. On the other hand, the ex-minister used to exercise strong influence on the agenda of Lula’s party within the National Congress.

PT leaders say that the ex-minister is an important member of the party and that is why he is usually heard by deputies and senators. Recently, for example, the ex-minister’s son, deputy Zeca Dirceu (PR), was elected to assume leadership of the party in the Chamber.

Dirceu was heard, for example, by deputies on the bench who are trying to implement a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that changes article 142 of the Constitution and delimits the missions assigned to the military. The proposal was presented by congressman Carlos Zarattini (SP) after acts of vandalism in Brasília.

Article 142 describes the functioning of the Armed Forces and began to be mistakenly cited by supporters of former President Bolsonaro to defend the thesis that the military would be a kind of mediator of the Powers. Among other points, the PEC intends to reserve military personnel who assume public office and put an end to the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) operation. The GLO is an operation carried out by order of the President of the Republic and adopted in serious situations of disturbance of order.

For the PEC to begin processing in the Chamber, 171 signatures of the deputies are required. The idea of ​​the PT bench is to take the issue for debate at the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), which will be chaired by Deputy Rui Falcão (PT-SP) in the first half.

Despite this, Planalto members resist the text, as they fear that the advance of the PEC could attract a new crisis between Lula and the military. In addition, there is also an assessment that the proposal tends to divide Lula’s support base, made up of several parties, including those of Centrão.

Dirceu works to review Lava Jato convictions in court

In addition to acting behind the scenes of the party, José Dirceu has acted to reverse his convictions in court. In the monthly allowance scandal, the former minister was sentenced, in 2012, to 7 years and 11 months for the crime of active corruption. He even served part of the sentence in a closed regime. But in 2016, he had his sentence extinguished by a presidential decree of Christmas pardon.

In 2017, Dirceu was once again sentenced by Lava Jato investigations to 23 years and three months in prison for crimes of passive corruption, receipt of undue advantage and money laundering. In March 2017, he was again sentenced to another 11 years and three months for the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering. The combined sentences, under Lava Jato, reached almost 40 years.

Despite the conviction, Dirceu benefited from a habeas corpus granted by the STF. The Court understood that the former minister could respond to the process in freedom because there are chances of his sentence being reduced in the higher courts. Dirceu has always denied the accusations and since then the defense has appealed the sentences to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

Recently, Lula’s former minister managed to have one of the sentences reviewed by the STJ. The Court’s Fifth Panel dismissed the conviction for the crime of money laundering and upheld the conviction for the crime of passive corruption. As a result, the sentence, previously of 8 years and 10 months, fell by almost half, to 4 years and 7 months in a semi-open regime.