Minister of Agriculture will return to the Senate for elections – 01/30/2023 – Power

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT), will provisionally resume his mandate in the Senate next Wednesday (1st) to guarantee the vote for his ally Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who is seeking re-election.

Fávaro’s first alternate, Margareth Buzetti (PSD-MT), only switched from the PP —the party that supported Jair Bolsonaro (PL)— to the PSD last month, after pressure for her to join the base of the new government.

Despite the apprehension surrounding Margareth’s name, Fávaro has publicly defended that the two are aligned. “She can have her ideologies, but she has to vote with the government. And she will vote with the government,” he told Sheet in December.

To take over the ministry, Fávaro also convinced his 2nd alternate, José Lacerda (PSD-MT), to leave the MDB. Lacerda’s son, Irajá Lacerda, is the current number two in the Ministry of Agriculture.

The election for the presidency of the Senate was one of the main subjects discussed between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Pacheco during dinner at the official residence of the Senate, on Thursday (26).

According to reports, Lula told Pacheco that he was rooting for his victory and that he instructed his ministers to take leave from their positions to vote in the election that will define the new head of the House.

Pacheco seeks re-election in the Senate and will have as his opponent the former Minister of the Bolsonaro government Rogério Marinho (PL-RN). Although Lula publicly states that he will not interfere in the dispute, PT members have been working for the re-election of the miner.

Four of Lula’s ministers were elected to the Senate in October and were already expected to be voted by the Board of Directors: Wellington Dias (Social Development), Camilo Santana (Education), Flávio Dino (Justice and Public Security) and Renan Filho (Transport).

According to the regiment, the new senators have up to 90 days to take office after the beginning of the legislature. However, it is customary that even those who are going to graduate assume their mandates on the first day, before the vote for the command of the Senate.

Fávaro is halfway through his term and would not need to participate in the inauguration ceremony. In addition to guaranteeing Fávaro’s vote for Pacheco, Lula’s commitment has symbolic weight due to the presence of five Ministers of State in the Senate plenary.

According to a close ally of Lula, the president also instructed his ministers who are federal deputies to take leave of absence from their positions in order to participate in the House elections. The government will support the re-election of Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

According to reports, Lula also spoke with Pacheco about the package to improve public accounts, which will be sent by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT), and about the so-called anti-coping package, prepared by the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino (PSB).

Lula also gave details to Pacheco about his visit to Roraima to address the humanitarian crisis involving the indigenous Yanomami people, and about his trip to Argentina and Uruguay.

Also at the dinner were the Minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha, and the leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA).