As Brazil’s political party leaders met to work out the details of the election of a new Speaker of the House of Represantives (president of the Chamber of Deputies), seven deputies announced their candidacy.
They are Beto Albuquerque (PSB party from the state of Rio Grande do Sul), Arlindo Chinaglia (PT, São Paulo), José Thomaz Nonô (PFL, Alagoas), João Caldas (PL, Alagoas), Luiz Antonio Fleury (PTB, São Paulo ), Michel Temer (PMDB, São Paulo) and Francisco Dornelles (PP, Rio de Janeiro). The election has been set for next Wednesday, September 28.
Meanwhile, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that he was certain the deputies would select a new president “committed to strengthening the institution and Brazilian democracy.”
The Brazilian President added that the executive branch “will continue to maintain a fluid and constructive dialogue with the legislative branch, no matter who is elected.”
As for the former president of the Chamber of Deputies, Severino Cavalcanti, who resigned in disgrace after being accused of taking kickbacks, he now must face any criminal charges and lawsuits against him like any common citizen within the regular court system.
As a member of Congress his case could only be heard before the Supreme Court, but all has changed since his resignation. Cavalcanti has said that he will prove his innocence, claiming that he has been the victim of false charges of corruption.
ABr