Rodrigo Pacheco, Lula da Silva’s preferred candidate, was re-elected President of the Senate on Wednesday, February 1. The PSD senator, a centrist party, defeated Rogério Marinho, from the PL, the same formation as Jair Bolsonaro, who campaigned in his favor in the United States. Pacheco, 46, leader of the upper house of the Congress of Brazil since 2021, added 49 votes to 32 for Marinho, and will preside over the house until 2025.
In 2021, Pacheco received 57 votes out of 81 senators for adding the support of then-President Bolsonaro to Lula’s PT. This time, after moving away from the far right, especially since the attacks on the three powers of January 8, he was again the favorite, but by a narrower margin, as Bolsonaristas intensified Marinho’s campaign in recent days. guarantee a kind of bulwark of counter-power to the government from the Senate.
In addition, the opposition sought to gain more influence in the judiciary, as future Federal Supreme Court (STF) judges must receive approval from the upper house of Congress. More: The President of the Senate can vote to impeach the impeachment of any of these 11 STF judges, including Alexandre de Moraes, the main target of Bolsonarist anger in his capacity as President of the Superior Electoral Court during the campaign.
In addition to this influence over the judiciary, the presidency of the Senate has the appeal of scheduling (or suspending) the vote on projects the government holds dear and having the final say in budget approval. In addition, the president is the third figure in the line of succession, after the vice president of the executive, Geraldo Alckmin, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, who was also re-elected, with the support of lulistas and bolsonaristas, Arthur Lira .
(updated)
Source: DN
