PT tries to rehabilitate José Dirceu’s image and dissociate party from corruption

Former minister José Dirceu is back on the political scene, in an attempt by the Workers’ Party (PT) to rehabilitate the image of one of its founders and dissociate the party from the history of corruption that marked Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s previous terms. . Dirceu returned to the Federal Senate, last Tuesday (02), after 19 years, in a solemn session called by the government leader in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (AP), in honor of democracy.

The former Minister of the Civil House was convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for involvement in the Mensalão scheme, which involved paying bribes to parliamentarians in exchange for political support, which led to several members of the party being convicted and arrested during Operation Lava Jato. . Dirceu was imprisoned for one year and nine months for corruption and money laundering.

It is worth remembering that the same senator Randolfe Rodrigues criticized the PT at the time of the Mensalão trial by the STF and stated that the corruption scheme was one of the main reasons for the break between his then party, PSOL, and the PT. “What happened is regrettable for politics,” he said at the time.

At the session in honor of democracy, the senator, now without a party and leader of the Lula government in Congress, was one of those who celebrated Dirceu’s presence in Parliament. “With great honor, I highlight and thank the presence, at this table, of this companion, who I thank God for the possibility of, in my political formation, having been one of the creators of the best moments of the Workers’ Party”, stated Randolfe Rodrigues.

For political scientist Jorge Mizael, from Metapolitics, the divergence of opinion shown by the government leader is not surprising. “Politics is dynamic, and a critic of the past can be an ally in the present or in the future”, summarized the analyst.

According to Mizael, the fact that even opponents of the Workers’ Party heard the former Minister of the Civil House’s speech shows that a figure like him carries a lot of political experience, a network of relationships and experience that are “very relevant assets for any broken”.

This same interpretation, according to the political scientist, can be applied to the fact that José Dirceu brought together hundreds of illustrious figures from the political scene at his 78th birthday dinner, in Brasília, in March.

The event was attended by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira, from Progressistas; by the vice-president of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, from PSB; and even by a member of the opposition – from PL -, the Bahian deputy João Carlos Bacelar, who confirmed to the column Between the linesfrom the People’s Gazettebeing a long-time friend of José Dirceu.

In the assessment of Political Science professor Elton Gomes, from the Federal University of Piauí, the PT is trying to rehabilitate President Lula’s allies, “not only to discredit the judicial operation [Lava Jato]which culminated in the conviction of these defendants and, effectively, rehabilitating them from the point of view of clearing them before public opinion”, he pointed out.

Furthermore, the political scientist that the Workers’ Party, once again in Planalto, is working with the possibility of launching José Dirceu as a federal deputy, for example. The former minister himself admitted to the portal g1after the solemn session in the Senate, that the possibility exists, but that it should only be discussed in 2025.

Still in Gomes’ assessment, even when he was arrested, Dirceu never left politics, and participated actively and decisively in the life of the PT, a kind of “gray eminence” – someone who has influence even without having a position – of the party.

“The main objective is to carry out narrative control, not only in the case of José Dirceu, in the case of the President of the Republic himself, José Genoíno, Delúbio Soares, the directors of Petrobras and all others who were convicted and removed from public life “, he added, remembering other PT names involved in corruption scandals.

Mensalão, Petrolão and Lava Jato: the convictions of José Dirceu

Jose Dirceu had his mandate revoked by the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies in 2005, for being one of the mentors of the so-called Mensalãoa vote-buying scheme in exchange for political support for the approval of projects of interest to the Executive.

The payments began to be made to parliamentarians in 2002 and were discovered just three years later, when in a leaked audio, the former head of Correios Maurício Marinho said that he received bribes from the then deputy Roberto Jefferson, from Rio de Janeiro. The scheme involved several politicians, Correios, PTB and the PT Directory, which allocated R$30,000 a month to pay parliamentarians in exchange for support for Lula.

José Dirceu also participated in the scandal of Petrolão, involving Petrobras, and influenced the appointment of directors accused of corruption at the oil company. The scheme involved the overpricing of works and contracts, and resulted in the arrest of executives such as Paulo Roberto Costa, then Director of Supply, who reported that the contracts were overbilled on average by 3%, to pay bribes.

José Dirceu was initially convicted of active corruption at Mensalão in 2012, with a sentence of 7 years and 11 months in prison. Two years later, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso allowed the sentence to be extended to serve the remainder of the time at home.

In 2015, the former minister was arrested in the 17th phase of Lava Jato – the largest anti-corruption operation in the country. He was the target of other convictions and releases by the courts until 2019, when he was released from prison again.

PT member José Dirceu was sentenced to 31 years in prison for passive corruption, money laundering and criminal organization in two sentences handed down by then judge Sergio Moro. Despite this, he ended up benefiting from a change in the Court’s understanding that definitive imprisonment was only possible after conviction in the second instance.

In 2023, the Fifth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) also benefited former deputy José Dirceu by dismissing a conviction for money laundering at Petrobras. The ministers understood that only a conviction for passive corruption would be applicable, reducing the sentence imposed from eight years and ten months to four years and seven months, in a semi-open regime.

While returning to public life, Dirceu is also trying to escape other cases against him. The PT’s defense seeks to reverse two Lava Jato convictions in the STF, on the grounds that there is sufficient evidence demonstrating that both former judge Sergio Moro and the former coordinator of the Lava Jato task force, Deltan Dallagnol, had no exemption to investigate and judge Dirceu, and that he would have been politically persecuted.

If this happens, the former minister will be able to regain his political rights, and will have a clear path to running as a candidate in 2026.

Dirceu’s return exposes the “bankruptcy” of the Judiciary, says the opposition

The deputy leader of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, Maurício Marcon (Podemos-RS), did not like the tribute to José Dirceu in the plenary of the Federal Senate, and said that the former minister’s presence in Congress exposes the bankruptcy of the Judiciary in Brazil . “Where is a man convicted in two corruption scandals received in Congress as if he were an unblemished person?” he asked.

For the deputy, Lula wants to clean up the biography of those who were by his side in the years in which Brazil experienced the “biggest corruption scandal in the world”.

Representative Rodolfo Nogueira (PL-MS) classified José Dirceu’s trip to the Senate as a disgusting scene that “diminishes” the Legislative power. “A citizen who has been arrested four times and who has already been convicted of corruption cannot be welcomed with parties anywhere”, he criticized.