Public security returns to the center of disputes between government and opposition in Congress. This Tuesday, the issue moves both Houses: the Senate installs the Organized Crime CPI, while the Chamber tries to vote on a project that classifies criminal factions as terrorist organizations.
Although the CPI was proposed by senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), the right is trying to co-opt the collegiate and transform it into a political platform, in a movement that increases pressure on the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government.
In the Senate, the CPI was born with an opposition majority and the potential to cause new political strain on the Lula government. Authorized by Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), the commission will investigate the actions of factions and militias, amid the repercussions of the most lethal police operation in the history of Rio de Janeiro, which left 121 people dead in the Alemão and Penha complexes.
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The opposition is trying to place Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) in the presidency and is betting on using the collegiate as a platform to reinforce the speech of toughening up against crime. The government base is still trying to reverse the composition to avoid a defeat similar to that of the INSS CPI, which ended up dominated by independent and opposition senators.
Among the holders of the new CPI are Flávio Bolsonaro, Sergio Moro (União-PR), Marcos do Val (Podemos-ES), Magno Malta (PL-ES) and Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) — all critical of the Planalto. The government base nominated Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE), in addition to counting on Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) and Vieira himself as occasional allies. Even so, the opposition and independents currently hold nine of the fifteen seats.
In Planalto, the reading is that the CPI can produce more political damage than the INSS commission, especially after the high popularity of governor Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ) after the mega-operation in Rio. A survey by Genial/Quaest showed that 64% of people from Rio de Janeiro approved the action against Comando Vermelho — a sign that reinforces the advantage of the right in this debate.
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While the Senate installs the CPI, the Chamber’s CCJ may vote this Tuesday on the bill that classifies criminal factions as terrorists. Authored by deputy Danilo Forte (União-CE) and reported by Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), the text is one of the flags of Bolsonarism and gained strength after the operation in Rio.
The project expands the criteria of the current Anti-Terrorism Law — from 2016 — to include the imposition of territorial dominance, in a direct reference to the control of communities by factions. It also provides for harsher punishments and the transfer of investigations to the federal level, under the command of the Federal Police and the Federal Public Ministry.
In practice, classifying factions as terrorists increases the level of punishment to up to 30 years in prison, expands international cooperation and the freezing of assets, in addition to reinforcing the discourse that these groups are a threat to national security.
The government base is against the proposal and defends its own project, the so-called “PL Antifaction”, prepared by Palácio do Planalto. The initiative creates the criminal faction type of crime, provides for sentences of up to 30 years and mechanisms to financially stifle these groups, but without using the framework of terrorism — which, for the government, could open gaps for foreign interventions.
During the afternoon and evening of Monday, the minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Gleisi Hoffmann, called parliamentarians with the aim of persuading them to block the session.
