Deputy Waldir Remains Congressional PSL Leader in Preference to Bolsonaro’s Son

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a defeat for the PSL Bolsonarist wing, the General Secretariat of the federal Chamber of Deputies decided on Thursday, October 17th, that Deputy Waldir will remain the party’s leader in the Chamber.

The General Secretariat confirmed the signatures of the three lists submitted on Wednesday night, October 16th, two of which were presented by the PSL’s Bolsonarist wing, which was attempting to remove Deputy Waldir and replace him with Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of President Jair Bolsonaro, who was leading the party in the Chamber of Deputies.

According to deputies, the president intervened personally to influence the process.

The dispute opposes Bolsonaro and PSL president Luciano Bivar’s allies. On Wednesday night, the Bolsonarist wing delivered a list with 27 signatures to remove Waldir from the command of the bench.

Shortly thereafter, the Bivarian wing submitted its own list, with 31 deputies. The president’s allies presented another list, with 27 names.

According to the General Secretariat, of the 27 signatures on the first list, 26 checked. Of the 31 names on Waldir’s list of supporters, 29 were confirmed. And of the third, out of 27 names, 24 checked – the signature is compared with the deputy’s signature card.

According to the rules, the last list submitted would apply. But since it did not include the names of more than half of the party’s deputies, it was disqualified. Thus, Waldir’s supporters’ list, the only one also backed by more than half of the party’s deputies, became valid.

The General Secretariat also found several of the same names on both the Bolsonarist and the Bivarist lists, but did not disclose them.

On Thursday, Deputy Waldir met with journalists and said that dissidents from the Bolsonarist wing will not be expelled, but may face legal sanctions. He adopted a conciliatory tone and minimized the clash with the Bolsonarists.

“The only thing that happened, which is very common in democracy, was a dispute for the leadership of the PSL, which is a strategic space”.

Waldir said that his leadership is temporary and ends in January and that in February the party will choose another leader. The deputy said he began to draw up a list when he learned that there was a collection of signatures of some deputies.

Despite this, Waldir said that he intends to pacify the PSL.

“We know that there has been a great clash, a lot of wear and tear, but we are extremely loyal to the government,” said Waldir. “To repeat: 98 percent loyal to the government,” said the deputy, who denied having obstructed the vote on the provisional measure that reformed the government machinery on Tuesday.

During the session, Waldir ordered the party to obstruct – a common practice used by the opposition to hinder votes in the Planalto’s interest.

According to the deputy, the obstruction was intended to prevent the PSL deputies from being marked as absent from the plenary session.

Source: Folhapress