The alliance negotiated by the deputy () with the one from Paraíba is at risk after disagreements caused by national politics, a situation that has amplified the tension between the president of the Chamber and the president (PT) and which tends to worsen as the election approaches.
Since assuming the presidency of the Chamber, Motta has portrayed the mayor of Patos, Nabor Wanderley (Republicans), as a senator on the ticket of governor João Azevedo (PSB). They hope to count on the support of Lula, who received 66.6% of the votes in Paraíba in 2022, against 33.4% for former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Senator Veneziano do Rêgo (MDB-PB), however, also seeks Lula’s support to run for re-election and has become even closer to the PT of Paraíba after disagreements between Motta and party leaders at the national level – from the president of the Chamber with the leader of the PT bench in the House, (RJ).
The emedebista, previously isolated, allied himself with the mayor of João Pessoa, Cícero Lucena, who joined the MDB with the plan to run for government in 2026 and split the Lulist base in Paraíba. “The local PT knows, as does the national PT, that it has two options: between trust and known betrayal”, says Veneziano, according to whom Lula has already promised to support him.
Azevedo’s group will have him and Nabor as candidates – in 2026, two seats will be up for grabs – and vice-governor Lucas Ribeiro (PP) running for re-election, after taking over the government in April with the governor’s resignation.
State politicians claim that the PT is at the base of João Azevedo, with positions in the state government, and that the natural thing would be to repeat the alliance in 2026 and also support Motta’s father. His recent disagreements with the Lula government, however, have made this alliance more distant. “This creates difficulties”, says the president of the PT of Paraíba, Cida Ramos.
The last divergence, which accentuated the government’s separation from Motta, occurred due to the decision of the president of the Chamber to appoint the deputy (PP-SP), then secretary to the governor (Republicans), as rapporteur of the anti-faction project, Lula’s bet to gain popularity in the area of public security.
Another point of tension was the campaigns on social media and in the streets against Blindagem’s PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution), which intended to paralyze criminal proceedings against congressmen until there was authorization from Congress for them to be tried. The proposal ended up unanimously rejected by the Senate due to popular pressure.
The PT and Lula opposed the text, and the PT in Paraíba joined the street movements, which had Motta as one of their main targets. Unions linked to the left also spread billboards against the president of the Chamber throughout the state.
“The Brazilian people did [um protesto] and it was very strong, it changed Congress’s position. We were on the streets, alongside the people. It wasn’t against the figure of so-and-so, it was the defense of political positions”, says Cida Ramos. The president of the PT states that support for Nabor was not discussed and that the party is debating which party to join after the split in the Lulist base in the state.
An ally of Lula says, with reservations, that it is necessary to avoid the construction of a double platform. In his assessment, this scenario weakens the PT member in the state, by preventing him from making gestures more towards one side than the other. He recognizes that a lot of dialogue is needed to build this agreement, but believes that this will still be discussed later.
Motta’s allies said that the tendency was for him to get closer to the federal government from the end of this year, precisely to obtain Lula’s support for his father’s candidacy. The deputy had been making gestures to the Palácio do Planalto and participating in official events, but the relationship reached its worst moment with the choice of Derrite.
The distrust between Motta and Palácio do Planalto had been occurring for months, since the president of the Chamber proposed a legislative decree to suspend a decree that increased the IOF (Financial Operations Tax) to increase revenue.
He, in turn, complained about online campaigns against the Chamber, mainly with accusations that Congress protected the rich and millionaires, and failed to exempt those earning up to R$5,000 from Income Tax, to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the recent wave of criticism.
The deputy’s interlocutors say that, although Motta wants the support of the President of the Republic for his father’s candidacy, it is Lula who would need the president of the Chamber most in managing the plenary agenda and building majorities for his projects.
Motta would have already sought out PT members in Brasília to complain about the attacks on the networks, which he believes were organized by Planalto and encouraged by Lindbergh. These criticisms would be reflected in the local situation in Paraíba, increasing the dissatisfaction of the president of the Chamber.
When contacted, Motta did not return the report’s contact details. His allies claim that PT and Lula’s support for Nabor’s ticket has not yet been discussed, which should only occur in 2026, and refute that the break with the current PT leader in the Chamber has repercussions on the state.
