The negotiation between the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the PT bench to support the name of Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB) for the presidency of the House opened a new split between the PT deputies. The clash involves Lira’s promise to support a party name for a position as minister at the Federal Audit Court (TCU).
Of the nine ministers that make up the TCU, three are appointed by the Chamber of Deputies, three are appointed by the Senate and the rest are appointed by the President of the Republic. Ministers Aroldo Cedraz and Augusto Nardes are expected to retire in 2026 and 2027, respectively, when they reach the age of 75.
Both vacancies are nominated by deputies and entered the negotiating table between Lira and the PT in the search for succession to the Chamber. “There is no vacancy. If there is, the PT requested the nomination of their bench. They complain politically that they never had a representative at TCU”, admitted Lira in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo.
This promise of support made by Lira opened up an internal dispute within the PT over the name that will be nominated. Among the main candidates are deputies Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), current president of the party, and Odair Cunha (MG), leader of the bench in the Chamber. Despite the agreement made with the current president of the Chamber, the name chosen will need to pass the scrutiny of the majority of the plenary.
Internal split in the PT began in support of Hugo Motta
PT members privately admit that the internal dispute between the two PT parliamentarians began even before the bench’s support for Hugo Motta’s name was formalized. Of the party’s 68 deputies, at least 20 were against the name nominated by Arthur Lira for command of the House.
“We had an internal debate process on the bench [do PT]which was not just two days, a process of a few months of open, frank, sincere dialogue was built, about the functioning of the House, about the spaces of representation, about the role of the Workers’ Party bench”, minimized Odair Cunha .
The meeting that formalized the endorsement of Motta’s name was led by Odair Cunha and Gleisi Hoffmann and took place without the presence of the opposing PT members. Within the party, a wing believes that Gleisi’s appointment to the TCU would have more difficulties to be approved and would depend on direct articulation by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
On the other hand, deputy Odair Cunha is already seen internally as a name with more circulation among Centrão deputies, precisely because of his role as leader of the bench. He, however, does not count on being close to President Lula.
In addition to these names, other members are also speculated within the party, such as the government leader, José Guimarães (CE), deputy Reginaldo Lopes (MG) and government ministers, such as Luiz Marinho (Labor) and Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development). ). The two heads of portfolio are deputies and have been on leave from their positions since the beginning of the government.
Nomination to the TCU is seen as a “prize” for deputies
Internally, PT leaders admit that the name chosen must have the feasibility of being approved in plenary. In 2005, the party nominated José Pimentel (CE), but was defeated. The following year, Paulo Delgado (MG) also had his nomination rejected.
Passed over in the dispute for succession in the Chamber, the leader of União Brasil, Elmar Nascimento (BA), recalled these defeats and stated that the PT’s negotiation with Arthur Lira would be like “selling land on the moon” – in other words, illusory. Despite this, the PT bench chose to embark on the candidacy supported by Lira.
To the newspaper The GlobeCunha admitted negotiating with Lira for the vacancy at TCU, but claimed that the option for Hugo Motta’s candidacy was aimed at maintaining “governability and institutional stability with a less fierce dispute in the House”. “The TCU was placed in the midst of this set of concerns, intentions, which the bench feels entitled to claim. The TCU was not a central element of the decision”, said the PT member.
In justification, Odair Cunha claimed that the agreement respects the size of the PT bench. “What the PT demands is that its size and space be respected. That we not be victims of a blocking process against the PT. Because if forces unite against the PT, it could reduce the role and importance of the party” , he told the The Globe.
The TCU seat is usually negotiated in House and Senate disputes and is seen as a reward for parliamentarians in exchange for support. In 2021, for example, the then senator Antônio Anastasia (MG), from the PSD, was nominated by the Senate in the articulation to elect Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) to command the House.
In the Chamber, the last nomination made by deputies was in 2022, when Jonathan de Jesus, from the Republicans, was approved with the support of the PT. Now, PT members admit that they intend to demand support for the name chosen by the Workers’ Party in the eventual administration of Hugo Motta in charge of the House.
In addition to a salary of R$40,000, the TCU minister has the prerogative of evaluating the accountability of the Presidents of the Republic. In 2015, the Court disapproved the accounts of Dilma Rousseff (PT) in the case of “fiscal pedals”, which later supported the PT member’s impeachment request.
TCU ministers also supervise construction contracts and act in privatization processes. The Court is also responsible for mediating agreements in the renegotiation of contracts between companies and public authorities.
