With the stumble of the Antifaction rapporteur, (PP), who put forward the signal against it and had to back down days later, what he considers to be involved in discussions around public security, an agenda that the group’s candidates intend to use as a showcase in the 2026 elections.
The movement, seen as trampled even by allies, led Derrite to retreat from his initial proposals and explain himself repeatedly.
“You know who is on the side of the population and who thinks that a criminal is a poor victim of society,” he said in a video on Wednesday (12), in a veiled mention of the president (PT), who called traffickers victims and then. “I repeat, it’s time to get down from the podium and answer the population’s cry for help.”
The initial report presented on Friday (7) by Derrite, who is Secretary of Security for the governor of , (), reduced the powers of the PF and submitted it to state governments.
For this reason, it was widely criticized not only within the corporation and the Lula government, which presented the project, but also by members of the Public Ministry, jurists, experts and even other right-wing politicians.
The conduct of the PL and the changes proposed in the text by Derrite —pre-candidate for the Senate next year on the recommendation of Tarcísio— opened space for the federal government to move forward in the discussion, with accusations that the right had tried to take electoral advantage of the episode.
Deputy leader of the opposition and career federal police officer, deputy Sanderson (PL) assessed that the report generated noise that needed adjustments. “There was a lack of communication and objectivity in the construction of the report”, he stated. “The proposal to reduce the PF’s duties, the need for authorization from governors, would not be voted on by us in the Public Security Commission.”
A deputy close to Derrite also told the reporter, on condition of anonymity, that there was a mistake in the formulation and form of disclosure. For this ally, the way the PF was treated gave Planalto room to block the opposition’s initiative.
According to this reading, the secretary’s attempt to limit the corporation’s actions would be a response to the Security PEC, defended by the government and criticized by the opposition, which would centralize the body’s actions.
Since the most lethal police operation in the country’s history, in Rio de Janeiro at the end of October, right-wing governors have come together to guide the national debate around public security, an issue they see as the weak point of the Lula government and the left.
With this, they managed to lead a new narrative with the potential to represent electoral gains in 2026. Right-wing politicians, including allies of (PL), already admitted, with reservation, their tiredness with the amnesty agenda for the former president and the participants of the 8th of January.
There are signs that, for now, the exploration of the issue of public security has had an effect in interrupting a sequence of positive results in the evolution of Lula’s popularity. A new round of the Genial/Quaest survey indicated one, with 31% positive evaluation and 38% negative.
Derrite’s appointment as rapporteur for PL Antifaction, decided by the president of the Chamber, (Republicans), was a victory for the right, whose parties united around the name of Tarcísio’s secretary.
The presidential election will be almost a year away, but all of today’s movements anticipate the debate. In this case, PP, PL, Republicans and União Brasil, who must walk together in 2026, also embraced the initial changes proposed by Derrite and classified the criticisms as “narratives” and “fake news”.
Tarcísio himself participated in a podcast alongside the secretary to defend the proposal to equate criminal factions with terrorist organizations, a speech taken up by the Brazilian right in alignment with the president of , . The North American government has justified military actions in international territory, especially in the Caribbean Sea, under the pretext of combating what it calls narco-terrorists.
“That [a ação de facções] it has to be classified as terrorism, as a way of increasing the cost of crime. That’s the understanding we have,” said the governor, who is tipped to run for president, a possibility he publicly denies.
With PL Antifaction, the right plans to unite around a first concrete proposal for public security, an issue that the group’s politicians want to be the main one during the 2026 campaign.
Professor of political science at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Jorge Chaloub states that security has become the right’s big bet to curb Lula’s popularity and the presidential elections, but there is still time to understand how public opinion will shape itself.
He says he has no doubt that the majority of the population approves of tough measures against crime, as research has shown, but states that the extent of this support will still be disputed by political actors. “Depending on how it unfolds, I don’t think it will be so simple and automatic [a ideia de] that just go out and kill and you will have the support of the population.”
Chaloub recalls that the popularity of the authoritarian president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, often revered by figures on the Brazilian right, is not a consequence of murders by the State, but rather of the electorate’s assessment that the government managed to retake territories previously taken over by crime.
In this sense, he states, even though public security is not the strong point of the Lula government, even right-wing governors do not have success stories to present to the electorate. “Public safety is never such a comfortable topic for anyone.”
