Brazil: Rodrigo Pacheco, the candidate supported by Lula, re-elected as head of the Senate

Rodrigo Pacheco, supported by Lula, retains the presidency of the Brazilian Senate.

The elected official was reappointed on Wednesday February 1.

He was opposed to a former minister of Jair Bolsonaro.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, was also reappointed for a two-year term.

Rodrigo Pacheco, elected from the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center), obtained 49 votes, against 32 for his opponent Rogerio Marinho, who was Minister of Regional Development under the mandate of the far-right ex-president (2019- 2022).

He needed 41 votes to be reappointed for another two-year term.

“

”, he had declared before the vote of the senators.

Without any real opposition, Arthur Lira, of the centre-right Progressistas (PP) party, was re-elected hands down, with the votes of 464 of the 513 deputies.

A record.

Reinforced security for the return to parliament

Brazil is coming out of a very polarized election, won by a narrow margin by Lula against Jair Bolsonaro at the end of October.

But this young democracy remains above all traumatized by the riots of January 8, when thousands of Bolsonarians refusing to accept the return of the left to power invaded and ransacked the places of power in Brasilia.

The security system has been reinforced in the capital.

Access to the Esplanade of Ministries, which leads to Three Powers Square, where Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court are located, has been closed to the public, and the area has been continuously monitored by drones .

The new Brazilian Congress, resulting from the October legislative elections, leans more to the right than the previous one, and the left-wing president will have to negotiate constantly with the myriad of parties that make up the country's political landscape.

The 513 deputies are elected for four years, a term which coincides with that of the Head of State.

That of the 81 senators lasts eight years, and that of a third of them begins this Wednesday.

Lula wants to maintain good relations with elected officials

The role of the presidents of the two chambers is very important, insofar as they are the ones who determine the agenda.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies is the third person in the country, after the President and the Vice-President.

Arthur Lira, 53, is a figure of the "

", a nebula of centrist parties that have been making rain and shine in Parliament for decades, most often allying themselves with the government in place, by cashing in their support for important positions.

He was a close ally of Jair Bolsonaro, refusing to submit dozens of requests for the dismissal of the far-right ex-president to the vote of the chamber.

He was, however, one of the first authorities to recognize Lula's election at the end of October and affirmed in a recent interview with Globonews that he had a "

" relationship with Lula.

"

," said the 77-year-old head of state in early January, assuring that he wanted to maintain good relations with parliamentarians, as during his two first mandates (2003-2010).