Zema went by jet to support Bolsonaro in the 2022 election – 04/28/2023 – Politics

Accustomed to posting videos on social media of a simple life, washing dishes, picking fruit from the tree and baking cheese bread, the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), traveled in a modern jet owned by businessman Rubens Menin to Brasília in the year past to declare support for the re-election of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who ended up defeated in the dispute with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The trip took place on October 4, shortly after the first round of the election, which took place on the 2nd. At the time, Zema said he believed much more in Bolsonaro’s proposal than in that of his opponent. In a note, the governor states that the trip was personal.

“About the specific trip mentioned, it is a personal commitment, after winning the elections in the first round. On the occasion I exercised my citizenship to have the freedom to support a candidate. As it was a personal commitment, under no circumstances could I use state aircraft”, said the governor, in the text.

Besides the governor and Menin, the then federal deputy Lucas Gonzalez (Novo-MG) and the president of Fiemg (Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais), Flavio Roscoe, were on the flight, according to a report by UOL columnist Chico Alves. The aircraft is a Bombardier jet, registration PT-RBZ.

Zema was elected for his first term as governor of Minas Gerais in 2018, presenting himself as someone outside politics, without compromises or favors. At the time, he defeated the parties of two former political leaders in the state. PT, former governor Fernando Pimentel, and PSDB, now federal deputy Aécio Neves.

In the Assembly, throughout his first term, he had problems articulating to vote on projects of interest to the government because he was unable to get a base greater than 20 of the 77 deputies in the House. The problem pointed out by the allies themselves is that the governor only agreed to talk with those who supported him.

In 2023, however, in his first year of his second term, he changed his strategy and expanded negotiations with a larger part of the deputies, accepting to increase, including, from 1% to 2% the percentage of the budget reserved by the government for the payment of tax amendments to state legislators.

Zema does not hide his desire to participate in the 2026 presidential race. To shouts of “president, president”, in his victory speech last year, he replied: “who knows?”

aircraft

In the note sent to the report, Governor Romeu Zema also says that, as a businessman, he drove more than two million kilometers along the roads of Minas Gerais opening stores in more than 300 cities.

“And that was also the way I ran my campaign in 2018. That’s why, when I took over as governor, I imagined that it would also be possible to carry out official commitments only with land travel”, says the governor, in the text.

“However, we soon understood that in order to optimize time as governor and better meet the demands of miners from all regions of the 853 municipalities, it was eventually necessary to use aircraft that today are not exclusively used by the governor, but belong to the Aviation Command of the Military Police of Minas Gerais”, argues Zema.

“In this way we use aircraft with transparency, commitment and responsibility with the State’s public resources. Unlike previous administrations, in my government State aircraft were never used for personal commitments”, says the head of the Minas Gerais Executive Branch. General.

According to Zema, the aircraft that he eventually uses to travel to official appointments are the same that provide the organ transport service.

“They are also the same aircraft that took the military specialized in combating organized crime to help the Tocantins Police in the operation against a bank robbery gang. Therefore, in Minas, what is public is used for the good of Minas Gerais and Brazilians ’ says the governor.