The president of the Brazilian Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, was re-elected on Wednesday for a new two-year term in a vote in which he had the support of the head of state, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and in which he defeated the candidate supported by the ‘former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Pacheco, a senator from the conservative Social Democratic Party (PSD), was re-elected with 49 votes among the 81 members of the Senate, against 32 votes obtained by Rogério Marinho, a deputy from the far-right Liberal Party (PL) who received public support from Bolsonaro .

Lula has decided to support Pacheco to avoid a Bolsonaro victory and, to ensure his victory, he even asked his senator-sent ministers to take back their seats for the vote.

According to the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, the center-left president has also opened negotiations with the centre-right parties, to whom he has offered positions in the second echelon of the government, to strengthen Pacheco’s aspirations and support the Executive’s initiatives in the Parliament.

In the speech given in the plenary session of the Senate before the vote, Pacheco recalled that during Bolsonaro’s mandate he had a collaborative relationship with the government and defended the measures of interest to the Executive.

He said he supported laws affecting the far-right leader in his re-election campaign, such as increasing benefits for the poor and eliminating fuel taxes.

Former ally of Bolsonaro

Pacheco was elected president of the Senate in January 2021 with the support of Bolsonaro, and, despite his support for government initiatives, he has distanced himself from the far-right leader throughout his tenure.

The president of the Senate was one of the first to recognize Lula’s victory in the October presidential elections and to condemn the January 8 assault on the headquarters of the three powers in which thousands of Bolsonarists tried to force a coup against the progressive leader.

In his re-election campaign, he came to present himself as guarantor of the defense of democracy against Bolsonaro, making him the target of criticism from former allies, such as Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president.

Pacheco, 46, born in the Amazonian state of Rondonia, is a senator for the state of Minas Gerais, where he has lived since childhood and where he trained as a criminal lawyer.

After holding positions in the Brazilian Bar Association, he began his political career in 2014, when he was elected a federal deputy, and was one of the MPs who voted for the removal of then-President Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s successor at the presidency.

As the president of the Senate, he is in charge of putting the different bills to the vote or in line, including those of interest to the government.

In the meantime, as announced, Deputies also re-elected Arthur Lira, a figure of what is known as “Centrao” (the big center), an informal coalition of conservative parties.

Source: EFE

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