proposals and ideas by Pacheco, Marinho and Girão

The election for the presidency of the Senate, this Wednesday (1st), has three candidates: the current president of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), candidate for re-election; Senator-elect Rogério Marinho (PL-RN); and Senator Eduardo Girão (Podemos-CE). Pacheco emerges as favorite. It is the name that has the support of the parliamentary base of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Marinho, former minister of the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), is the main name of the opposition. Girão runs on the outside, as a self-declared “independent” candidate.

See below what Pacheco, Marinho and Girão think about topics of interest to the country:

Opposition to Lula or base in the Senate?

Rodrigo Pacheco: the president of the Senate has the support of the PT in his bid for re-election. But, if he is re-elected, he should not be an unconditional ally of Lula. His discourse should be one of strengthening government bodies and good institutional relations. In the presidential elections, Pacheco did not vote for any of the candidates and said that his goal was to strengthen Electoral Justice. His party, the PSD, is famous for having members close to both the PT and Bolsonaro. And Pacheco’s history of political action shows that he will not necessarily be aligned with the government. He was elected president of the Senate with the support of then-President Bolsonaro’s base, but distanced himself from him. Before that, he had been elected senator in 2018 by the DEM – a party that opposed the PT governments. And, as a deputy, he voted in favor of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (PT), in 2016. His performance as president of the Senate, however, did not contradict the PT.

Rogerio Marino: the future senator from Rio Grande do Norte is a historic opponent of the PT, which makes him a potential president of the Senate opposing Lula. Marinho was Bolsonaro’s minister, won the Senate election overcoming a candidate supported by Lula and opposed the PT in his previous experience in Congress, as a federal deputy.

Eduardo Girao: the senator supported Bolsonaro in the second round of the 2022 elections and has often had a position aligned with the interests of the former president in recent years, usually voting along with the government. He also defended Bolsonaro during the Covid CPI. Girão is also an opponent of the PT in the so-called customs guidelines, in matters such as abortion and the decriminalization of drugs.

Inspection of the Judiciary and impeachment of STF ministers

Rodrigo Pacheco: in the presidency of the Senate, he adopted a posture of conciliation and of seeking to avoid conflicts between the powers. He did not proceed with requests for the impeachment of ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), even expressly rejecting a demand made by then-President Bolsonaro against Minister Luís Roberto Barroso. On a possible CPI to investigate the STF and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Pacheco is refractory to the installation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry as a whole. The CPI of Covid was only installed after determination of the STF. But he demonstrated, at the beginning of the month, that he was in favor of a CPI to investigate acts of vandalism in Brasília.

Rogerio Marino: Criticism of the actions of STF ministers, especially during the electoral period, is constant in the speech of the elected senator. In the statement he made when he launched his candidacy for the presidency of the Senate, Marinho said: “the impeachment [de ministros do STF] is foreseen in the Brazilian Constitution, as there are other provisions. Evidently, we all owe vassalage, loyalty, and obedience to the Brazilian Constitution. And this is how we will behave. We hope that the other Powers will do so. And the other excesses must pass through the sieve of the constituted powers”.

Eduardo Girao: the Ceará senator usually endorses the challenges to the Judiciary made by Bolsonaro supporters, such as those that this power is acting in an interventionist way over the Legislature. In an interview with People’s Gazette, Girão promised to guide the vote on requests for impeachment of ministers of the Supreme Court. One of his campaign platforms is to strengthen the Senate itself, which would be done in opposition to the STF. Girão is also in favor of the implementation of mandates with a determined time for the ministers of the Supreme Court.

Freedom of expression and fake news

Rodrigo Pacheco: the fight against fake news was mentioned on more than one occasion by him as a priority for the defense of democracy. The president of the Senate avoided public criticism of the fake news inquiry in the STF, contested by Bolsonaro’s allies.

Rogerio Marino: the PL candidate for Senate command is opposed to what he calls the “authoritarian escalation of censorship of criticism” which, according to him, is being promoted by the judiciary. He points out that the Constitution provides parliamentarians with immunity for opinions, words and votes. “[Se for eleito,] we are going to have a Congress that will lead the debate on major issues and we will make an intransigent defense of Parliament and its prerogatives. Article 53 of the CF [Constituição Federal] guarantees that the parliamentarian will not have his word or opinion curtailed. Let’s guarantee this right,” he wrote on social media.

Eduardo Girao: the congressman says that the judiciary has been censoring representatives of the conservative camp. He mentions names that had their profiles suspended on social media, such as elected deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) and businessman Luciano Hang, both supporters of Bolsonaro. In the Senate, Girão presented a request asking for clarification on the amounts spent by the STF with the fake news inquiry.

Reforms in the economic area

Rodrigo Pacheco: voted in favor of pension reform in the Senate, when he was not yet President of the House. In 2017, as a deputy, he was also in favor of the labor reform of the government of then President Michel Temer (MDB). Recently, Pacheco said he was against the repeal of the changes in the legislation that governs the relationship between workers and businessmen, a measure suggested by sectors of the PT. As president of the Senate, however, he failed to seek passage of tax reform. The measure did not find the necessary endorsement to be voted on.

Rogerio Marino: the future senator uses as one of his campaign assets the fact of having acted directly in the approval of labor and social security reforms. He was the rapporteur for the labor reform in the Chamber, in 2017, and was Secretary of Social Security when Congress voted to reform the sector, in 2019. Marinho considers himself a liberal in the economy and defends the approval of reforms in the economic field.

Eduardo Girao: he voted in favor of pension reform and also presents himself as a liberal in the economic field, a position that indicates him as favorable to reforms and also to the revision of the tax system.

fiscal austerity

Rodrigo Pacheco: the president of the Senate made a direct effort for the PEC to be approved by the House, at the end of last year. The proposed amendment to the Constitution allows the Lula government to break the spending ceiling to cover social expenses. Under Pacheco’s command, the PEC was voted on by senators in an unusual period for proposals for constitutional change. He emphasized, however, that he is in favor of the spending cap, approved by Congress in 2016 and considered by him as an “achievement” for Brazil. The ceiling is criticized by the PT and by segments on the left, who consider the tool as an obstacle to investing in social actions.

Rogerio Marino: the future senator is in favor of cost-cutting measures and fiscal responsibility. He criticized Lula when the then-president-elect said he did not care about a possible fall in the stock market and a rise in the dollar in response to increased public spending to make social investments. Marinho was also against the ceiling-breaking PEC, and said that Bolsa Família could be financed without what he called a “blank check” given by Congress to Lula.

Eduardo Girao: the senator was one of the few in the house who voted against the PEC, approved on December 8th. He called the measure an “overflow PEC”. Throughout his term, Girão was in favor of fiscal responsibility measures and said that it is possible to ensure social benefits without breaking fiscal austerity rules.

Supersalaries and functionalism

Rodrigo Pacheco: in May 2022, the president of the Senate defended a bill and a PEC that are being processed in the House and that, according to him, “close the gate” of super wages in the public service. But the proposals, which restructure the careers of the Judiciary, would guarantee an additional payment for length of service for members of the Public Ministry and the judiciary. Despite Pacheco’s support for the propositions, they ended up not advancing in the Senate. The senator remains in favor of the issue.

Rogerio Marino: as an articulator of the Social Security reform, he got used to clashing head-on with corporations of public servants. One of the arguments he used at the time was that the reform would reduce costs with the civil service elite and open the way for the investment of public resources in social programs.

Eduardo Girao: throughout his tenure, he endorsed initiatives to reduce expenses and monitor public spending, such as the end of secrecy in corporate cards. He was also opposed to the possibility of the Senate readjusting the salaries of members and servants of the House.