Competition had been suspended in July; release comes after the announcement of Paulo Pimenta’s departure from the secretariat
The TCU (Court of Auditors of the Union) authorized on Thursday (9.Jan.2025) the bidding of the (Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency) that selected digital communication companies to advise and manage social networks for the president’s government (PT ). The total value of the contest is R$197,753,736 and the contracts last 1 year.
The tender had been carried out by the TCU in July 2024. At the time, the technical staff of the Court of Auditors found signs of leakage of the bidders’ proposals. The MP-TCU (Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Federal Audit Court) requested a precautionary measure to stop the process. The reporting minister welcomed the suggestion.
The technical area of the Court of Auditors argued that a press vehicle published the results of the contest in encrypted form 1 day before the envelopes were opened.
In July, Secom stated that the (Advocacia Geral da União) was “working on the appropriate responses” to free up competition.
“Despite the seriousness of the facts narrated in this representation, no elements were included in the case file that would minimally support the occurrence of the alleged illicit act, which prevents, in my opinion, the forwarding of mere conclusions or assumptions to the police body.”, wrote minister Aroldo Cedraz in the decision ( – PDF – 142 kB) of Thursday (9.Jan).
According to him, “there are no obstacles for Secom/PR to promote hiring of the service object of the tender in question, taking advantage of the acts carried out in the previous tender, in its judgment and where applicable, given the unfounded nature of this representation and the non-identification of other irregularities”.
EXCHANGE AT SECOM
The release of competition takes place shortly after Lula retired from his position as Secom minister. He will be replaced by publicist Sidônio Palmeira.
When announcing his own resignation on Tuesday (7 January), Pimenta said that the president wants someone “with a profile” different from yours at Secom.
Pimenta spoke to journalists alongside Sidônio Palmeira. The next head of Secom that the government needs to align expectations about administration, management and popular perception of the federal Executive’s actions.
“There are high expectations from the government, management, and popular perception. I think we need to align these 3 things. And that is our challenge: that expectations, management and popular perception remain balanced at the same point. It is in this sense that we will work”, these.
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