PL, PT and MDB support Motta, Arthur Lira’s candidate in the Chamber

The main parties in the Chamber announced this Wednesday (30) support for the candidacy of Hugo Motta (PB), leader of the Republicans, to succeed Arthur Lira (PP-AL) as president of the House. The PT, owned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the MDB and the PL, owned by former President Jair Bolsonaro, confirmed support for Motta’s name, which has the endorsement of Lira himself. The federation led by the PT has 80 deputies; the PL, 92; and the MDB 45 deputies.

The election for the presidency of the Chamber is scheduled for February 1st of next year. Deputies Elmar Nascimento (União Brasil-BA) and Antonio Brito (PSD-BA) are also vying for the position occupied by Lira. Yesterday’s announcements consolidate Motta’s favoritism in the parliamentary election.

The PL’s support was announced by the party leader, deputy Altineu Cortes (RJ), in front of the PT leadership room. The prediction was that the PT members would also declare their support for Motta last night. The candidacy has already received the support of Podemos and the PP. “I want to formalize the PL’s support for deputy Hugo Motta’s candidacy”, declared Altineu. “A party commission will be formed with some deputies to take some important agendas for the party”, he amended. “This committee will discuss this with the deputy next month, but the PL’s support is formalized,” he declared.

A Bolsonaro wing defended a more intransigent stance in the dispute, with a list of demands to condition support for a certain candidate or even a candidacy of its own. On the other hand, a majority group wanted to support Motta.

PL president, Valdemar Costa Neto, defended support for Lira’s candidate. “Hugo Motta is very balanced and tends to be a good president,” said Valdemar. The list of requests made by the PL includes the demand that the new president of the Chamber put the amnesty project for those convicted of January 8th to a vote. The PL also wants the vice-presidency and to expand spaces in important committees. “We had a very good meeting with the bench. Now, people are just agreeing on the spaces and our agenda”, stated the leader of the party.

Amnesty

The effort made by Lira to obtain broad support for her name in the dispute for succession displeased the Bolsonarists. This week, Lira removed from the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) the bill that provides for amnesty for Bolsonarists convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for the January 8 attacks and transferred it to a special commission – which should delay the its processing. The project is a key piece in the attempt to reverse Jair Bolsonaro’s ineligibility.

The measure was supported by Valdemar Costa Neto, head of the PL, and the former president himself, but it displeased federal deputies, such as Caroline de Toni (SC), president of the CCJ, who would reap the credit for having approved an agenda calling for the Bolsonarist militancy. Parliamentarians have reported increasing pressure from the electorate to find a way to mitigate the punishment for those convicted. Some sentences reach 17 years in prison. Deputies say that Lira assured the PL that the special commission would give its opinion later this year, a message echoed by Bolsonaro himself. But there is disbelief on the bench that this could happen.

As found out by the Estadão/BroadcastLula gave approval for the PT to support Motta’s candidacy, at a lunch at Palácio da Alvorada with the party’s president, Gleisi Hoffmann, and the leader of the party in the Chamber, Odair Cunha (MG).

The Construindo Um Novo Brasil (CNB) movement, the majority of the party, had decided the day before yesterday to endorse the Republican candidate.

1st secretariat

Motta offered the PT the command of the 1st Secretariat of the Chamber in the future composition of the Board of Directors. Today, PT members occupy the 2nd Secretariat. In addition, the party is negotiating the nomination for a vacancy in the Federal Audit Court (TCU), and the candidates are Gleisi and Odair.

The bench must still hold a vote, but there is already a pro-Motta majority among the party’s deputies. With the support of the PT, the Republican candidate consolidates his candidacy against his two opponents, Elmar Nascimento and Antonio Brito. Motta also has the support of the PP, which has 50 parliamentarians, Podemos (14) and the Republicans themselves (44).

“We expect balance and the search for consensus from Hugo Motta”, said the president of the MDB, Baleia Rossi, last night. The party has 44 deputies in the Chamber. The leader of the party in the House, Isnaldo Bulhões (AL), is close to his Republican colleague and worked to convince the group to support him.