At 51 years old, Congressman Arthur Lira has reached the pinnacle of his political career after being elected Speaker of Brazil’s House of Representatives. For the next two years, he will have a tight grip over the country’s legislative agenda and will hold the proverbial sword of Damocles over the head of Jair Bolsonaro, having sole jurisdiction over accepting or rejecting impeachment requests against the president.
He won the race against nine other candidates — and a runoff stage wasn’t even necessary. With 302 votes, he won over twice as many votes as Baleia Rossi (145 votes) and reaffirmed his strength among his peers.
As a matter of fact, the battle for the Speaker position was less about the two candidates — and more about the proxy war between President Jair Bolsonaro and outgoing speaker Rodrigo Maia. The pair have been engaged in a war of attrition since Mr. Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, with one branch of government constantly taunting the other.
The Speaker race would decide which of the two had the most clout in Brasília, and ended with Mr. Bolsonaro’s biggest political...