RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Congress on Monday, February 1st, chose lawmakers endorsed by President Jair Bolsonaro as the presiding officers of its two chambers, giving the far-right leader a base among center-right politicians with whom he had once vowed never to ally.
Senator Rodrigo Pacheco won the two-year term to head the Senate by a vote of 57-21. Another new Bolsonaro ally, Arthur Lira of the right-wing Progressive Party, later won the presidency of the lower house by 302 votes against 145 for his nearest rival.
Bolsonaro’s support for Pacheco and Lira underscores his embrace of a fragmented bloc of lawmakers known more for their horse-trading prowess than ideological commitments, called the ‘Centrão,’ or ‘Big Center’.
The president ran in 2018 on a pledge to clean up the capital and end decades of pay-to-play politics that culminated in a record-breaking corruption scandal known as Lava Jato (Car Wash).
Lira faces charges of taking bribes in Lava Jato and other probes, although the cases have not advanced in the courts and some have been dismissed. His lawyers have denied any wrongdoing by their client.
Lira promised to be independent of the government and push through emergency measures to assist Brazilians hit by the coronavirus pandemic. He called for a moment of silence for the dead in his victory speech.
Bolsonaro’s stronger standing in Congress should dispel for now the growing clamor for his impeachment from critics who have filed 60 requests to unseat him, mainly for his alleged mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed some 224,000 Brazilians.