Key aides met leaders of the governing coalition in the Lower House to address the Executive branch’s legislative agenda

23/04/2024

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Arthur Lira — Foto: Zeca Ribeiro/Câmara dos Deputados

President Lula’s ministers stepped in to defuse a growing crisis between the Planalto Palace and Congress. Following the president’s meeting with Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira, key aides such as Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha and Chief of Staff Rui Costa, responsible for political coordination, convened with leaders of the governing coalition in the Lower House on Monday to address the Executive branch’s legislative agenda.

The meeting was set at the residence of Congressman Emanuel Pinheiro Neto, a member of the governing coalition. The group of deputy leaders includes representatives from several parties, not just President Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT). By Monday night, the outcome of the discussions remained unclear.

The initiative came from José Guimarães, the government’s leader in the Lower House, amidst an ongoing spat between Messrs. Lira and Padilha. The purpose was to gather pro-government lawmakers for a broader discussion “on politics,” as the administration has been facing recurring difficulties in its relations with Congress.

“This would mark the start of political meetings, to discuss politics beyond the usual legislative debates, amendments, and appointments,” said a source in the presidential palace. Mr. Guimarães, who arranged the dinner, conceded last Friday that the relationship between Mr. Lira and the presidential palace’s political coordination team needed “minor repairs here and there.”

The friction prompted Mr. Lula to demand more dedication to political coordination from his ministers on Monday. Speaking at an event in the palace, he highlighted the disproportion of the Workers’ Party representation in Congress—70 out of 513 deputies and nine out of 81 senators—and emphasized the need for more proactive engagement: “[Vice President Geraldo] Alckmin needs to be more dynamic and engage more. [Finance Minister Fernando] Haddad should spend less time reading and more time discussing issues in the Senate and the Chamber, along with Wellington [Dias, minister of Social Development] and Rui Costa engaging in conversations with various parliamentary caucuses. It’s tough but we can’t complain because that’s politics. Either you do it, or you don’t get involved in politics at all.” Mr. Haddad later quipped that he does nothing but that.

Behind the scenes, there is internal pressure within the government for Mr. Lula himself to become more actively involved in political maneuvers. In his previous terms, Mr. Lula frequently engaged directly with allied lawmakers, hosted events at the presidential residence in Brasília, and invited members of Congress to join his delegations on national and international trips—an approach that has been absent this term, which insiders argue has negatively affected interactions with Congress.

A rare exception occurred with Mr. Lula’s recent meeting with Mr. Lira on Sunday, as confirmed by sources to Valor. Originally scheduled for later in the week, the meeting was expedited to Sunday by advisors close to both parties. The meeting was not officially documented in their schedules. Mr. Lira did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Lula’s meeting with the congressman was part of an effort to mitigate the conflict between the Lower House speaker and the government’s political coordination team, led by Mr. Padilha.

The political crisis was fueled by the government’s decision to dismiss Mr. Lira’s cousin from the leadership of the National Institute of Land Reform and Colonization (INCRA) in Alagoas. Following the dismissal, Mr. Costa approached Mr. Lira to deny Mr. Padilha’s involvement in the incident. Sources say that Mr. Costa even offered to show his message exchanges with Mr. Padilha on the matter as proof of his account, but Mr. Lira deemed it unnecessary.

(Guilherme Pimenta and Jéssica Sant’Ana contributed reporting.)

*Por Renan Truffi, Estevão Taiar, Mariana Assis, Raphael Di Cunto, Marcelo Ribeiro — Brasília

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/