The opposition leader in the Senate, Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), reiterated this Wednesday (6) his intention to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to guarantee the installation of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) of the Ministry of Education. (MEC). in conversation with the Brazil de factohe said that he will wait for the reading of the request for the creation of the collegiate, scheduled to take place on this date, and then he will observe the next steps of the political game to decide on the judicialization of the case.
“Our calendar will be as follows: we will wait for the reading, which he himself has announced that he will do. After that, we will wait for the indication of the leaders [para a composição da CPI]. If until the last day before starting the recess there is no indication of the leaders and the obstructive action on the right to the CPI has been configured, we will go to the STF,” he said, saying that the group “will definitely go to the Supreme Court”.
The parliamentary recess period begins on July 18 and ends on July 31, after which the National Congress resumes activities. The indication of party leaders corresponds to the list of members of each acronym who will participate in the collegiate, a standard procedure before the start of work of a commission of this kind.
The opposition continues to criticize the decision of Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), announced on Tuesday (5), to project the reading of the request for the creation of the CPI in plenary for this Wednesday, providing that work will begin only after the elections . This rite is not usual, since, in general, the two legislative houses usually install parliamentary commissions of inquiry soon after the request is read.
Pacheco’s idea is to try to shield the Bolsonaro government from a further deepening of the image crisis experienced today by the President of the Republic, whose name is implicated in the evidence that came to light in the case of the MEC. The scandal involves the participation of pastors who received bribes and moved values from the portfolio illegally.
In preventive custody on the 22nd for involvement in the case, former Education Minister Milton Ribeiro told the Federal Police (PF), still in March, that he received the evangelical pastors involved in the scandal at the request of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). ). The revelation made the case attract even more the spotlight, complicating the government’s situation and causing the troops of the Planalto allies to move strongly in the Senate to try to prevent the CPI.
“There were two moves this week by President Pacheco that I think help Bolsonaro a lot: one was to speed up the Kamikaze PEC and the other was this coordinated action to obstruct the minority’s constitutional right to the CPI,” says Randolfe, mentioning the result of the lobby of government officials with the president of the Senate.
The opposition leader refers to the Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment (PEC) 1/2022, which provides for an increase in the values of Auxílio Brasil, the gas voucher and created other benefits, such as the voucher aimed at truck drivers.
The initiative is seen in the political world as a measure of an electoral nature and whose objective is to try to leverage Bolsonaro’s popularity at the moment that precedes the October election, for which former President Lula (PT) has been appointed in opinion polls. as a voter’s favourite.
Government and CPI
With regard to the government’s actions in relation to the MEC’s CPI agenda, the group is preparing a kind of “plan B” in case the STF forces Pacheco to install the commission.
According to behind-the-scenes information released by columnist Igor Gadelha, from the website metropolises, this Wednesday (6), Bolsonaro’s troops articulate the possible election of an allied president who opens the work of the CPI and soon after suspend activities until the elections are closed. The maneuver would avoid further damage to the government’s image and, consequently, would have less potential to affect the electoral result.
The opposition, however, tends to continue demanding the creation of the collegiate “with agility”. For Randolfe Rodrigues, Rodrigo Pacheco tries to protect Bolsonaro, which the group considers “strange”, especially in the current political scenario.
“Not having an investigation right now, in addition to being weird, absurd – because it would imply saying that crimes can be committed during the electoral period – would be all Bolsonaro wants at this point. In other words, we can have an investigation, which later points out the involvement of the President of the Republic in crimes, and the voters, according to this logic, will not be able to have access to information like this?”, asks Randolfe Rodrigues.
Editing: Glauco Faria