Alcolumbre clashes with the opposition and tries to hold off Centrão

The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), became the target of dissatisfaction from the opposition in the Senate and even from Centrão’s allies in the Chamber, while trying to maintain a close relationship with the Lula government. After having won the support of the PL at the beginning of the year to command the Senate, Alcolumbre has accumulated wear and tear with the Bolsonarist bench. He works against the hypothesis of a broad amnesty for those convicted of coup acts, which would benefit former president Jair Bolsonaro, and defends a model of sentence reduction, the discussion of which is also losing momentum.

Furthermore, he worked to block the so-called Blindagem PEC, which made it difficult to open cases against parliamentarians and was the result of an agreement in the Chamber between the Centrão and the opposition.

Close to ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the head of the Senate also bars any discussion about impeachment of magistrates, which increases friction. He complained in plenary two weeks ago that the opposition’s focus on the STF has made it “impossible” to conduct the work.

Reappointment to the table

Despite this, Bolsonaro senators are betting that they will grow in influence after the 2026 election and that Alcolumbre will need to close an agreement with the group to remain president of the House in 2027.

“I’m sure he (Alcolumbre) has a say and won’t shy away from discussing the matter (amnesty) when it reaches the Senate, even if it’s not the text he agrees with”, says senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ).

Another sign of the split with Bolsonarists occurs in the INSS CPI, with complaints that the president of the Senate is acting to limit the commission’s work. As an example, they cite the preparation of an opinion by the House’s Advocacy that prevents the disclosure of data relating to meetings between parliamentarians and businessman Antonio Carlos Camilo Antunes, the INSS’s Careca.

Parliamentarians have also been trying to link senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), an ally of Alcolumbre, to Antunes, in an effort seen as an attempt to embarrass the president of the Senate himself. During the businessman’s testimony, Weverton was mentioned 20 times — the two have already been on meetings together, as shown by O GLOBO. When contacted, Alcolumbre did not respond. Weverton denied having a relationship with Antunes and said he did not participate in any irregularities.

Meanwhile, the government is betting on the relationship with Alcolumbre to advance initiatives in the Senate, such as the Income Tax (IR) exemption project, and to minimize the effects of the announced disembarkation of the Union from management.

On another front of clashes, there is an atmosphere of dispute between Alcolumbre, the president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), and leading deputies from Centrão. The Senate’s decision to bury the Blindagem PEC generated negative repercussions in the neighboring House. The fact that senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL) was able to articulate the advancement of a project that expands the IR exemption, under the argument that the similar initiative that was being processed in the Chamber was blocked, also contributes to the crisis. In the Chamber, the project, approved last week by deputies, was under the rapporteurship of former president of the House Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who is Renan’s rival in Alagoas.

Motta admits to allies that the decision on the Blindagem PEC angered his colleagues, but tries to cool things down and avoid confrontation with the head of the Chamber. The distance was also one of the factors that created a brake on the project to reduce sentences for those involved in the acts of January 8th.

“This is natural. There are times when the situation is bad, then it becomes good again. The two Houses have to work together”, minimizes the rapporteur of the dosimetry proposal, deputy Paulinho da Força (Solidariedade-SP).