This week, we look ahead to today’s congressional leadership votes, with the outgoing Speaker threatening to launch an impeachment process against Bolsonaro. Truckers’ strike leaves the population on alert. Brazil’s vaccination efficiency.
Isolated in congressional race, Speaker threatens to launch impeachment
Today, Brazilian lawmakers will elect a new House Speaker and Senate President. While these votes are often highly unpredictable right up to the last second, as it stands, President Jair Bolsonaro is set for his biggest political win since 2018, helping two allies to victory in both congressional chambers: Arthur Lira in the lower house, and Rodrigo Pacheco in the Senate.
Why it matters. The vote today will decide who controls the legislative agenda until the end of Mr. Bolsonaro’s term. Congressional leaders are often either the president’s strongest allies, or their worst enemies — just ask Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached in 2016 after years of a poor relationship with Congress.
- In the first half of his term, the relationship between Congress and Jair Bolsonaro has been tepid at best — and openly confrontational at its worst. Now, the president is focused on building bridges with lawmakers, engaging in pork-barrel politics to co-opt supporters for his allies....