No menu items!

Expecting a clash, Parliamentary Investigation of the Brasilia January 8 invasions begins this Thursday

The CPMI (Mixed Parliamentary Inquiry Committee) that will investigate the acts of the January 8 invasions of the Three Power buildings in Brasilia will be installed this Thursday (25) with the election of the President and vice-president of the collegiate.

The meeting is scheduled for 9 am.

The committee will have members from both legislative houses. It will comprise 16 deputies and 16 senators, with equal alternates.

The committee was formally created on April 26 with the reading of its opening request at a congressional session. Of the 32 seats, the government should have at least 18, and the opposition 9.

Congressman Arthur Maia is the most likely name to chair the collegiate.

The Three Powers square in Brasilia. (Photo Internet reproduction)
The Three Powers square in Brasilia. (Photo Internet reproduction)

The names include congressmen known for their clashes in the legislature, such as Magno Malta (PL-ES), Soraya Thronicke (União Brasil-MS), Damares Alves (Republicans-DF), Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), and Jandira Feghali (PC do B-RJ).

Power360 showed that when choosing the members, the government prioritized diversity in the composition.

The President also indicated a preference for members of Congress with media visibility, combative positions, and experience in the Legislative branch.

This is because politicians with this profile generally have reach and resonate in social networks, where the government and the opposition should dispute which narrative will prevail.

THE GOVERNMENT WAS AGAINST

The opposition to Lula’s government (PT) accounts for most of the nominated names among titular and substitute members.

The request for the CPI was initially shelved because members and allies of the government were against installing a CPI to investigate the invasions because they thought it would be a way of wearing down the Executive.

The situation changed, and the installation became inevitable when images of the former head of the GSI (Cabinet of Institutional Security), Gonçalves Dias, were released, in which he appears inside the Planalto on the day of the invasion walking among the vandals and not acting to contain the depredations.

On the same date, the general resigned.

Gonçalves Dias took the decision after a meeting with president Lula, vice-president and Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), as well as Ministers Flávio Dino (Justice), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations), Paulo Pimenta (Secom), and Rui Costa (Civil House).

The government had to modulate its discourse.

On April 20, Minister Padilha said there would be a “clash” and political confrontation of the government in Congress if the CPI were installed.

In a meeting with government leaders, Padilha said it had been agreed to support the commission.

GOVERNMENT VS. OPPOSITION

To combat the anti-Lula narrative, the government will bet on linking members and supporters of Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) administration as the instigators and/or funders of the January 8 acts.

The opposition, in turn, will try to demonstrate incompetence on the part of the Lula government, especially the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino.

The Ministry of Justice has the constitutional power to call on the National Force, which receives contingents of Military Police from the States.

Dino only made the summons in the early evening of Saturday, January 7, 2023, the day before the acts.

On Sunday morning, January 8, when it was clear the risk that there would be with the arrival of 100 buses in Brasilia, no more effective attitude was taken by Dino nor by the GSI (Institutional Security Cabinet), as well as by the CMP (Military Command of the Planalto). The minister claims that the competence lies with the Federal District government with its police forces.

COVID CPI

Opposition deputies bet on the strategy that the CPI of January 8 would have the same effect that the Covid CPI had on Bolsonaro’s government with wear and tear and shaking the popularity of the Executive.

The commission, however, is not the only bet of the anti-Lula group. The MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement) CPI in the House has also been used to target the government.

The Pandemic CPI was the last major collegiate parliamentary inquiry.

It investigated actions and omissions of the federal government of the time, headed by Bolsonaro, in confronting the health crisis. The final report of the collegiate was closed with 1,299 pages and suggested the indictment of 78 people and 2 companies.

According to the Impeachment Law, former President Bolsonaro was indicted for 9 crimes ranging from common offenses, provided in the Penal Code, to crimes of responsibility.

There are also crimes against humanity, according to the Rome Statute of the ICC (International Criminal Court) in The Hague.

With information from Poder360

Brazil news, English news Brazil, political news Brazil, politics Brazil, January 8 invasions, CPMI of January 8 invasions

Check out our other content

×
You have free article(s) remaining. Subscribe for unlimited access.