Bolsonaro-Big Center relationship is an uneven one

Jair Bolsonaro’s relationship with Congress has been the worst of any president since 1985, the year of Brazil’s redemocratization. Data shows that it even failed to improve after one of his more controversial moves – the forging of an alliance with a group of politicians known for supporting any government in exchange of benefits, the so-called “Big Center.”

The Big Center is a loose federation of mildly conservative parties which lend their support to the government du jour for the right price. During the 2018 campaign, Mr. Bolsonaro promised to break with them — as it was a quintessential part of what the president used to call “old politics” and “the worst thing in Brazil.” 

He would soon be eating his words as it became evident that his permanence in power was conditioned to forging a congressional coalition.

Following two years of tumultuous relations with Congress, halfway through his term President Bolsonaro began to dish out key government positions and roles in public administration to the group he once despised, but which holds 209 out of the 513 House seats.

This alliance was cemented when Mr. Bolsonaro joined the Liberal Party, led by Valdemar Costa Neto. Mr. Costa Neto is a veteran of the halls of Congress and considered one of the Big Center’s de facto leaders. It helped that the president opened the floodgates of budgetary grants to congressmen — via the so-called “secret budget,” allowing lawmakers to allocate public money to projects in their constituencies.

This rapprochement with the Big Center deflected the risk posed by the 140-plus...