Potent Congressional Bloc ‘Centrão’ Gets Patronage Positions, Aligns with Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Under pressure from allies and after suffering repeated political defeats, President Jair Bolsonaro, on Wednesday, May 6th, began to distribute patronage positions to the Centrão (center and center-right coalition) parties in exchange for votes in Congress, reviving the old “Give-and-take” practice.

In this official marriage, the first party to be honored was the Progressives, headed by federal deputy Arthur Lira, who managed to appoint his nominee for the command of the National Department of Works Against Drought (DNOCS), a federal agency with a budget of R$1 billion (US$200 million) this year.

The appointment was published in the Federal Gazette one day after the Centrão supported the government in major votes. On Tuesday, May 5th, the bloc was in line with the Planalto Palace, during a vote in the Chamber on the proposal to aid states and municipalities. Unlike other times, when Bolsonaro suffered setbacks, leaders of the bloc took the microphone to guide votes according to the Executive’s interests.

Fernando Marcondes de Araújo Leão is the DNOCS appointee. The agency has long been controlled by the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement) party, but the President allowed the appointment to be made by Lira, leader of the Progressives Party (former PP) and a defendant in a passive corruption lawsuit.

Lira, on the other hand, handed over the nomination to PL (Liberal Party) deputy Sebastião Oliveira, a representative of the Chamber’s back benchers, turning the nomination into a “surrogacy”. By outsourcing the selection, he displeased the Progressives deputies, but the strategy is part of the plans to build a support base in the February 2021 race for the Chamber’s presidency. Lira also wants to unite smaller parties, such as the PSC (Social Christian Party), Patriotas (right-wing Patriots), and Avante (populist centrist Labor Party), to reinforce his potential candidacy, when he expects Bolsonaro’s support.

Asked about the deputy’s move in the nomination for the DNOCS, Chamber president Rodrigo Maia dodged the subject and said he had an excellent dialogue with his colleagues. “If a party wants to be part of the government, what does that have to do with my relationship here in the Chamber?”, asked Maia, denying that the articulations are meant to undermine his power. “The agenda is always the Chamber president’s,” he argued.

Some of the Centrão’s top leaders were unwilling to openly discuss the new alliance with the Planalto. “No one asks if what is being voted on is good or not,” said Jhonatan de Jesus (Republicans-RR).

Zé Silva, the leader of Solidariedade (social-democratic Solidarity) in the Chamber, conceded the party should support more of the government’s proposals but said he has not accepted patronage positions in return. “Solidarity chose to support projects that are significant, but is not appointing anyone to government bodies,” he said. PSD’s (Social Democratic Party) Diego Andrade, in turn, assured that the party is “independent” and concerned about the economic agenda.

“It is the Centrão’s troops who are holding the CPIs (Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry) to investigate Bolsonaro’s interference in the Federal Police (PF) and other crimes reported by ex-Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro,” said PSL (Social Liberal Party) leader Joice Hasselmann. “The President has handed out positions, state offices, secretariats, departments, and has earned ‘loyalty’ based on the mutual ‘scratch-my-back tactic’,” she said.

The Centrão’s leaders deny that this attempt to bar the opening of the CPIs is taking place.

Regularization

After months of describing the Centrão as the “old politics” he would not engage with, Bolsonaro is now relying on the bloc to prevent the land tenure Provisional Measure, known as the “land-grabbing PM,” from expiring on May 19th. Until now, Maia only intended to schedule a vote on the PM in the event of a consensus between the Ministry of Agriculture and the agribusiness and environmental agencies, which has not yet occurred.

At a time of Covid-19 pandemic, the issue is dear to the government, which considers the PM necessary to promote the “dignity of rural producers” and “the development of our Brazil”. Those who oppose the measure see risks of tenure of lands invaded by illegal land-grabbers and loggers.

Behind the scenes, members of the Centrão argue that the appointment of Araújo Leão to command DNOCS marked an alliance between the Planalto and their voting bloc. As a result, the government has placed the group in control of an agency that will have R$265 million for investments this year alone. It is money that can be used to purchase equipment and public works in remote locations, with great potential for attracting votes.

The total DNOCS’ budget for 2020, of R$1 billion, is not the largest among the agencies and other bodies coveted by the Centrão – by comparison, the DNIT’s (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) budget is R$8.4 billion.

Deputy Sebastião Oliveira, godfather of the new DNOCS director, was Pernambuco’s state transportation secretary between 2015 and 2018, at which time he appointed Fernando Leão to one of the portfolio’s executive secretariats. The group already controls the DNOCS office in Pernambuco.

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo