Who is José Guimarães, chosen to lead political articulation of the Lula government

Chosen for the Secretariat of Institutional Relations, the government leader in the Chamber, José Guimarães (PT-CE), will be responsible for President Lula’s political articulation in this final stretch of his term before the elections.

Guimarães meets the political profile sought by Lula, as shown by O GLOBO. In the selection process, Lula discarded the head of the Economic and Social Development Council, Olavo Noleto, who was considered a favorite for the role.

The decision to take on political articulation comes amid his desire to run for the Senate with the PT, but the dispute in Ceará is already crowded with other allies of the party in the state. Guimarães’ move to the ministry removes the possibility of him running in the elections, as the period of disqualification has already passed.

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With the departure of Guimarães, Lula makes a gesture to the group of senator Cid Gomes (PDT-CE). The senator’s brother, Ciro Gomes, is expected to run for governor of Ceará for the PSDB against the current governor Elmano de Freitas (PT). Cid is broken with Ciro and has already indicated that he will support the PT in the state.

The deputy, who served as government leader in the Chamber throughout Lula’s current term, has already been cited in an investigation opened at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to investigate alleged deviations in the allocation of parliamentary amendments.

José Guimarães’ name was mentioned in dialogues obtained by the Federal Police (PF) between Ceará parliamentarians who were allegedly negotiating the allocation of amendments to city halls.

The investigation at the STF was opened in July last year. At the time, the deputy stated in a note that he did not send amendments to the municipalities that had been mentioned as targets of deviations in amendments in the PF investigation.

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Lawyer, José Guimarães holds the position of federal deputy for the fifth time in a row, having been elected for the first time in 2006. He has already presided over the PT in Ceará for eight years and came to political life after a career in the student movement and strike leadership in the state.

Now, Guimarães will be responsible for demands such as the Chamber’s approval of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that changes the 6 x 1 work scale, the project that regulates work through applications and also wants to unlock the appointment of the Minister of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), Jorge Messias, to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Messiah will be questioned by the Senate on April 19th.