Brazil Congress elects new leaders in test for Bolsonaro

Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (L) is embraced by Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, after being elected president of the Senate, in Brasilia, on February 1, 2021. – Congress voted in head of house and senators in elections deemed crucial to determine Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s reach in upcoming years. (Photo by Sergio Lima / AFP)

BRASÍLIA — Brazil’s Congress began voting Monday for the next leaders of the Senate and lower house, a test for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose political future could hang in the balance.

Bolsonaro got personally involved in the leadership battles in both houses of the legislature, looking to improve his troubled relations with Congress and stave off the 61 impeachment requests he is facing.

The speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, who are elected for two-year terms by their colleagues, are key gate-keepers in Brazilian politics, with the power to decide which legislation comes up for a vote.

The lower-house speaker also has the power to accept or shelve motions to impeach the president — no small matter for the leader dubbed the “Tropical Trump,” who has racked up dozens of such requests halfway into his four-year term.

Seeking to use the leadership votes to bolster his clout with Congress, Bolsonaro struck an alliance with a coalition known as the “Centrao,” or “big center,” a loose coalition of parties whose priority has traditionally been gaining access to pork and government posts.

In the Senate, he got a bit of good news soon after the voting began when lawmakers elected his candidate for speaker, Rodrigo Pacheco of the Democrats (DEM).

But the real test will be in the lower house, where there has been a hard-fought battle pitting Bolsonaro’s candidate, Arthur Lira of the Progressives (PP), against seven other candidates.

The main challenge comes from Baleia Rossi of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the candidate backed by current lower-house speaker Rodrigo Maia (DEM).

Maia has a strained relationship with Bolsonaro, and reacted furiously when other lawmakers from his party defied him to back Lira.

He reportedly threatened to use his last day in the speaker’s seat to open impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro, before backtracking.

Bolsonaro faces some 20 impeachment motions over his chaotic handling of the pandemic, plus dozens more over alleged anti-democratic actions, environmental crimes and hate speech.

The voting process in the lower house could stretch into the early hours of Tuesday.