Senate approves Jhonatan de Jesus for TCU – 02/08/2023 – Power

The Senate approved, this Wednesday (8), the appointment of federal deputy Jhonatan de Jesus (Republicanos-RR) to the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União). Approval was given by 72 “yes” votes, two “no” votes and one abstention.

The deputy was appointed by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and is the son of Senator Mecias de Jesus (Republicanos-RR). The indication goes to promulgation.

Jhonatan and his father are political sponsors of the last three coordinators of Yanomami indigenous health in the Bolsonaro government, a period in which the health crisis in the region worsened.

The federal deputy will replace minister Ana Arraes, who left office last July. Graduated in medicine, he is in his fourth term in the Chamber.

One of the points that weighed against the deputy is the long period he will stay at TCU: 36 years —retirement in court also occurs at 75 years old.

Investigations by the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Police point out that the coordinators of the Yanomami Indigenous Health District were appointed to the post by Jhonatan and Mecias. The indigenous land located between Roraima and Amazonas has been in a health emergency since last month.

Major of the reserve, Francisco Dias Nascimento was head of the district between July 2019 and June 2020, as stated in the Transparency Portal. Months later, in December 2020, he was appointed parliamentary assistant in Mecias’ office and allocated to work in the Republican presidency.

After his departure, Rômulo Pinheiro took over Yanomami health, who held office between July 2020 and early 2022. He is the son of Socorro Pinheiro, who in 2018 ran for state deputy for Roraima along with father and son —including , they all promoted events together and shared saints, as photos on social media show.

The main supplier for the Socorro campaign was the company J. Pereira de Jesus, which is in the name of the daughters of Mecias, Jhonatan’s sisters.

Ramsés Almeida succeeded Rômulo in office in the indigenous land, from January to November 2022, precisely the period of sharp deterioration in the health situation of the Yanomami Indigenous Land.

In 2020, he tried to be re-elected councilor in Mucajaí (RR) by the Republicans of Jhonatan and Mecias, but ended up as an alternate. The three appear together in photos from public events and meetings.

Asked by Sheet about the indications, the deputy did not respond.

Jhonatan’s nomination was part of an agreement made by Lira with the president of the Republicans, Marcos Pereira (SP), even when the deputy from Alagoas was seeking his first election as head of the Chamber.

The deputy’s candidacy had a series of obstacles, with resistance within the TCU and among Jhonatan’s colleagues. Behind the scenes, there was discomfort because Lira would also have promised the nomination to Deputy Soraya Santos and Deputy Hugo Leal (PSD-RJ). Leal ended up leaving the dispute, contemplated with the general rapporteur of the 2022 Budget and after taking over the Secretariat of Oil, Gas and Energy of Rio de Janeiro.

With no votes, Lira postponed the election to TCU. The mayor even sent a call to leaders for the vote to take place in August 2022, but gave up and decided to hold the election only this year, after the elections for president and after the choice of the Board of Directors, on the 1st.

In articulating his reappointment, Lira directed efforts to get Jhonatan elected. The parliamentarian participated in meetings held by the president of the Chamber with state benches and asked for a vote for his candidacy.

In the Chamber, Jhonatan was involved in controversies. The deputy spent R$70,400 on an electoral fund at a gas station that belongs to his sisters. He denied irregularities in payments, declared in his rendering of accounts and approved by the Regional Electoral Court of Roraima.