President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) declared support for the re-election of senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB) from Paraíba. The parliamentarian is running against the former mayor of Patos (PB) Nabor Wanderley (Republicanos-PB), who is the father of the president of the Chamber of Deputies Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB).
Lula’s support for Veneziano was already taken for granted and was being reiterated by the senator himself. By recording the video, Lula publicly contradicted the plans of Hugo Motta, who had been working to guarantee the PT member’s endorsement of his father’s candidacy.
“Very few times in my life, as President of the Republic, have I had a senator with an honest and committed relationship to help the government that I have with Veneziano. He did not lack the help that the government needed”, said the PT member.
“We need to return Veneziano to the Senate, because it is a guarantee that if I win the elections I will have more peace of mind to govern this country”, added the president.
In 2025, the relationship between Lula and Motta was conflictual. In one of the episodes, the parliamentarian maneuvered a vote to overturn the IOF increase and impose a defeat on the federal government. The government reacted with a public campaign against Congress, with Motta as the central target.
Another point of friction was the decision of the president of the Chamber to appoint deputy Guilherme Derrite (PP-SP), then secretary to governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos-SP), as rapporteur of the anti-faction bill.
In 2026, Motta adopted a collaborative stance with the Executive and allowed the advancement of priority government agendas such as the Public Security PEC and the Vale-Gás MP. Behind the scenes, allies of the President of the Chamber admitted that the rapprochement also had an electoral motivation: to guarantee Lula’s support for Nabor in Paraíba. The video suggests that the bet did not pay off.
