Members of the (-RJ) campaign admit that what happened to the president of the , senator (PI), has an effect on the right in the presidential dispute, given that the party is tipped to occupy the vice-president spot on the ticket and the politician was (PL’s) right-hand man.
The first assessment of the campaign, however, was that Flávio managed to stay away until now and should try to remain preserved. It was a good thing, say these assistants, that the vice position was not already announced for the PP-União Brasil federation, which would have expanded the
The federation has not yet declared support for Flávio, although this is the natural path to the conventions, according to four members of PP and União Brasil.
The deputy position is vacant, among other reasons, because there was an expectation that the Master case could reach important allies such as Ciro Nogueira. There is fear in Flávio’s campaign that the president of União Brasil, Antonio Rueda, will be the target of investigations.
The orientation of Flávio’s team is to allow time for the effects of the investigations to be measured before defining whether the PL will form a coalition and with which parties. In practice, the game remains open, with the senator (PP-MS) and the former governor of Minas Gerais (Novo) as possible vice-presidents.
Following the caution preached by his allies, he does not defend Ciro and avoids taking a stance, appearing distant.
“Senator Flávio Bolsonaro follows closely and considers the information released by the press to be serious. We understand that facts of this nature must be investigated rigorously and transparently by the competent authorities, always respecting due legal process. We trust the report on the Master case, led by minister André Mendonça, and we hope for a broad investigation”, says the text.
Later, at night, the senator released a video in which he defends the opening of the Master CPI, whose installation was blocked by the president of Congress, Davi Alcolumbre (Uniao Brasil-AP), in agreement with the opposition. In the recording, he seeks to associate the Master case with Lula’s allies.
“Brazil deserves to know the whole truth. How the bank grew, who was behind it and what Master’s connections are with the top national leadership of the PT and Bahia. We cannot let them push this matter under the carpet. Master’s CPI now”, he stated.
One of the leaders of the center, . He has already gravitated from the support base of PT governments to head of Bolsonaro’s Civil House and after failing in his attempt to be the governor’s deputy (Republicans) on a possible presidential ticket.
In March, during an interview with journalists in Piauí, Ciro even said that he would resign from his mandate if any accusations regarding Master were proven.
If other politicians and parties are also targets of serious suspicions like those of Ciro, that the PF to act in favor of the Master’s interests, the opinion of people around Flávio is that it would be possible to have the PP in vice, given that the scandal would become widespread.
But, if Ciro is the focus of the investigations, as is the case at the moment, there is a calculation around Tereza’s name — who has publicly repeated that she is not interested in the position. On the one hand, Bolsonarists say that she has her political capital preserved and independent of the PP president. On the other hand, it is certain that .
Members and allies of the Lula government, a tactic reinforced after the operation. But the expectation is that the task of eroding Bolsonarism based on the accusations against the PP president will be left to ministers and congressmen.
In the USA, when questioned, the president avoided delving deeper into the investigation and, without mentioning Ciro Nogueira by name, said he hoped that all those investigated were innocent. “The Federal Police complied with a court decision. I hope that all the people investigated are innocent,” said Lula.
“The new operation shows the intimacy of the Bolsonaro government’s heart with the BolsoMaster scheme,” said the government leader in the Chamber, (-RS). He defended the creation of a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) into the scandal.
Government officials say they believe that the operation makes the PP’s alliance with Flávio difficult and, consequently, deprives the political opponent of advantages such as increasing his TV time. On the other hand, they foresee greater difficulty for Planalto to form a majority in Congress, since Ciro is one of the main leaders of the center.
Flávio’s aides say they see limited effect on the government’s attacks, while Bolsonaro parliamentarians are already preparing a speech to counter them.
Leader of the opposition in the Chamber, deputy Cabo Gilberto Silva (PL-PB) states that the right defends the advancement of investigations and questions the political interest behind the operation against the president of the PP. “The son of [PT] received an allowance and had no operation. It was also supposed to have operations in the [ministro do STF] Alexandre de Moraes”, he says.
The parliamentarian also states that the opposition defended Banco Master’s CPI from the beginning, and is trying to separate Flávio’s campaign from Bolsonaro’s former minister. “Ciro was also an ally of the PT, so what? He’s centrão. Centrão is centrão, not right wing”, he states.
This Thursday’s operation reinforced the doubt that already existed among some of Flávio’s allies regarding the advantages of a coalition with PP and União Brasil. Some of the campaign’s members claim that the PL, alone, already has enough funding, TV time and platforms across the country to leverage Flávio — even without the formal boarding of the center.
According to this reasoning, the union of the PL with the centrão in the states would be desirable to isolate the PT, however, in relation to the presence on Flávio’s majority ticket, it would only make sense to add other parties if there was no wear and tear.
Another group of Bolsonaro supporters has insisted on an alliance with the federation to consolidate right-wing votes and win over voters in the center. Campaign coordinator, senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN) spent the last few days in conversations in search of a formal announcement of support in the coming weeks.
Zema, who intends to be the vice-president of the PL ticket, took advantage of this Thursday’s operation to criticize Ciro on social media and oppose Flávio’s possible alliance with the PP. Its main political articulator in Minas Gerais, however, is a member of the PP, the former deputy and pre-candidate for Marcelo Aro.
Within the PP, the possibility of Ciro’s removal from the party presidency to avoid electoral wear and tear is ruled out.
In a statement, Ciro’s defense stated that they repudiate conclusions of illegality, “especially in his parliamentary activities”, and said that the senator is committed to contributing to the courts to clarify that he did not participate in illegal activities.
