Failing to launch inquiry, opposition hopes to probe Education Ministry scandal

The Senate’s Education Committee issued a formal invitation to eight people suspected of involvement with a corruption and influence-peddling scandal within the Education Ministry, asking them to appear before senators to answer questions. The invitation, however, is not binding and can be ignored.

For weeks, the opposition in the Senate has tried to grill the government after allegations that Evangelical preachers outside of the administration had control of federal funds for local education initiatives. And that they conditioned the distribution of those funds to kickbacks. The scandal cost the job of former Education Minister Milton Ribeiro.

So far, the committee has invited 21 persons and subpoenaed interim Minister Victor Godoy.

Still, a push to launch an official inquiry has so far failed, as the Evangelical caucus has managed to prevent a formal request from getting the necessary one-third of senators to support it. The opposition claimed to have whipped all signatures required, but multiple senators backpedaled over the weekend, leaving calls for accountability toothless.

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