PF operation aggravates distrust between Lula and Lira – 06/01/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

The Federal Police woke up at the door of one of Arthur Lira’s assistants this Thursday (1st). The operation was aimed at a suspected embezzlement of public money with funds from parliamentary amendments. Hours later, even before lunch, the deputy called the Minister of Justice to the official residence of the President of the Chamber for a conversation.

It is not necessary to know what was said at the meeting to measure the tension that the operation adds to Lira’s relationship with the government. Allies of the president of the Chamber treat the moment of the raid as a set up by the government, which controls the PF. Flávio Dino, on the other hand, only went to the deputy’s house because he needed to mitigate the risk that this conviction represents.

The week aggravated what was already a relationship of mistrust. Lula and Lira seem to recognize each other as characters who keep agreements, but also have enough power to threaten the survival of opponents. Lula almost lost the entire Esplanada dos Ministérios, and Lira saw the police encircle him.

Signals issued by both sides point, for the time being, to a pact of non-destruction. After being walled off by the centrão, Lula said that she could even consider handing over a ministry to Lira’s group. After talking with Dino, the mayor said that the PF operation did not affect him and was not even a provocation.

The two may, from now on, have an agreement based on well-defined terms, but not a full loyalty alliance. The danger for both is that politicians who live with permanent risks to their own survival may end up preferring to use the power they have to protect themselves, quell threats or provoke mass explosions.

Eduardo Cunha only broke up with Dilma Rousseff, in July 2015, after learning that the PGR had obtained a statement that incriminated him. The then president of the Chamber believed in a government collusion with Rodrigo Janot to overthrow him. “Everybody was going to shoot. And everybody was going to die,” he wrote.

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