Basselar uses his defense to direct the Allied deputies and attempt to maintain his position as chief of the limp

• Baslar Prison: Alerj is scheduled to hold a meeting and plenary session of the Justice and Equality Committee on Monday to determine the MP’s future
• Mariel case: Dino is trying five people accused of planning the murder in February

Early last night, Allerg confirmed that a meeting of the Jurists Committee would be held at 11 a.m., followed by an extraordinary plenary session to address the issue, which had already been scheduled for 3 p.m. Until then, the behind-the-scenes negotiations will be intense over votes, positions and anything else that might be considered bargaining chips. The scenario that had already been practically decided was to agree to the release of Basilar – accused of warning the then MP T. H. Goias that he would be arrested. More debated is whether they will put his removal from the presidency to a vote.

Deputies say Basilar’s defense would have asked for yesterday’s session to be postponed to allow time to gain votes against his removal. The strategy includes letters sent by Basselar, through his defence, demanding loyalty from his colleagues. He recalls the agreements reached in recent months – on the distribution of positions, political expressions and the presidency of strategic committees, including with leftist parties. Now he demands that his allies “pay” the debt.

But it was not easy to convince even the new allies. There is a climate of tension: some parliamentarians fear they could be on the radar of the federal police and the Minister of Special Forces, Alexandre de Moraes, if they side with the detained Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. This position can be seen as an alignment with the interests of criminal organizations, especially the Comando Vermelho (CV). This faction is the focus of national police investigations that indicted former MP TH Goias, who was arrested in September on charges of involvement in drug trafficking.

There are also parliamentarians with families living in the slums dominated by Comando Vermelho. Some worry that if they vote against Basilar, their relatives could face retaliation.

However, debate over who would take over if the takedown is confirmed is ongoing. The acting president, Guilherme Delaroli (PL), was speaking with federal MP Altino Cortés (PL), state president of the party, about Basilar’s future. The head of the most influential party in Allerge – with 18 deputies – was present in the assembly the day before yesterday to show support for Delaroli. His presence, according to sources interviewed by Globo, also allowed him to closely monitor the internal climate at the request of Governor Claudio Castro. If Basselar’s removal continues, Delaroli (PL) may call new elections. In this scenario, the name of Douglas Roas, Secretary of State for Cities, has gained strength in the betting market because he is the son of the mayor of São Gonçalo, Captain Nelson, a historical ally of Alteño. Delaroli is another strong candidate.

The sensitive point here is that in the case of a precautionary removal, there is no obligation to immediately call for new elections, but some parliamentarians are calling for the process to be pushed forward. For the government, succession is important: keeping Basilar as president would be politically uncomfortable, given the accusations made, and would weaken anti-crime rhetoric on the eve of an election year.

According to the representatives, the governor prefers release accompanied by isolation, a solution that is considered sufficient to alleviate public embarrassment and avoid further damage to the image of the executive authority. According to interlocutors, Castro called deputies from the base to make clear that he supported his release.

Over the weekend, MPs should start negotiating what the Central Court of Justice will take to plenary session. One option is to introduce a single draft resolution with two deliberations: release and removal. Another alternative would be to have two texts and vote on each, as called for by parliamentarians associated with Castro: one dealing with imprisonment and the other with his removal from the presidency. For Basilar, it is important that everything is voted on together, because that can facilitate coordination to keep him in power. A third method also emerged: the deputies would only deliberate on the arrest and leave it to Alexandre de Moraes to decide on the removal.

This situation leaves the influential House of Representatives’ closest allies in a delicate position: many of them are part of the government’s base and are now facing direct pressure from the Guanabara Palace to vote against Basilar, and in favor of the solution that concerns the governor. In this game of chess, the most unexpected vote is that of Rodrigo Amorim (Uniao), President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Bacellar’s right-hand man and, at the same time, allied with Claudio Castro.

Representative Luiz Paulo (PSD), a member of the committee, stated that the topics should be analyzed separately:

– I understand that it is not within the jurisdiction of the Central Court of Justice to vote on the merits, especially regarding two different topics. A question related to the Constitution and the request made by the Minister. The Council must express its opinion on whether to remain in prison or release him, and thus decide whether or not to remove him. I understand that we will have to put two draft resolutions to a vote in the plenary session.