The president () made a positive gesture to journalists this Friday (19) when asked whether the senator (PT-BA) would remain in the leadership of the government in the Senate. The question was asked while Lula greeted part of the audience waiting for him at the Luxembourg Hospital, in .
The president did not stop to give statements to the press. During his speech, he did not mention the episode involving the ally. Wagner was the target this Thursday (18) of the new phase of Operation Compliance Zero.
It investigates suspicions that the senator received payments linked to , from , through his daughter-in-law’s company, in addition to an apartment in Salvador valued at R$2.5 million. The senator denies illegalities.
Lula was in the capital of Minas Gerais to participate in the announcement of investments of R$89.3 million for Hospital Luxemburgo, which became a 100% SUS unit. The hospital, part of the Mário Penna Institute, is a reference in oncology in .
The Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, also participated in the agenda. During his speech, he cited numbers of programs run by the department and, in an electoral tone, criticized the previous government, of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and also the former governor of Minas (Novo), a pre-candidate for Planalto.
“We already had a president who refused to invest in a state where the governor did not support him,” said Padilha in reference to Bolsonaro, adding that Zema’s stance “did not prevent the federal government from investing in the state.”
“President Lula is not concerned about whether the governor of Minas Gerais likes him. President Lula looks at the people of Minas,” said the minister.
This is the 16th time that Lula has visited the state in the current term. The PT member accelerated the number of agendas in Minas to 2026.
Miners account for the second largest electoral college in the country. Since redemocratization, the presidential candidate who wins in the state arrives at Palácio do Planalto.
After seeing their failed attempts to convince former Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSB), who decided to leave public life at the end of this term, the PT members are looking for a plan B for a candidacy for the Government of Minas.
Conversations with the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Alexandre Kalil (PDT) did not progress, and now the former mayor of Belo Horizonte Gabriel Azevedo (MDB) and the former attorney general of Justice Jarbas Soares (PSB) are emerging as possible names.
The former president of Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) Josué Gomes da Silva (PSB) and the former dean of UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) Sandra Goulart (PT) are also often mentioned.
The president’s allies stated that Lula visited Minas with Marília Campos (PT) running for state government. She, who wants to be a candidate for the Senate, was not with the president on Friday’s two agendas.
After the event in the capital of Minas Gerais, Lula went to Divinópolis, in the center-west of the state, for the inauguration of a regional hospital that will be managed by the Federal University of São João del-Rei.
The city is Azevedo (Republicans), which is in the latest polls of voting intentions for the state government.
Supporter of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s (PL) candidacy for President, Cleitinho says he has not yet decided whether he will put his name forward for this year’s race. The senator from Minas Gerais did not attend the event.
The mayor of Divinópolis, Janete Aparecida (Avante), thanked the president for his presence in the city and said she was grateful that the federal government had taken over management of the hospital. She was elected as vice-president of Gleidson Azevedo (Republicans), Cleitinho’s twin brother, who left the position to run for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies this year.
