BRAZIL – Change of team in INSSresponsible for the payment of over R $ 700 billion in pensions, raised concerns among government technicians about the risk of political use of this body in an election year. New President, Jose Carlos Oliveira, indicated from Centre, a bloc of parties united with the president Jair Bolsonaro and provided political support to the government in National Congress…

Oliveira was nominated last Friday the 5th instead of Leonardo Rolim, what taken over by the Social Security Secretariat for the second time, connected with Ministry of Labor and Social Security… He is a Social Security Specialist and has served on the INSS Benefit Board since May 2021. He was also the agency’s superintendent for the Southeast Region.

The official version is that the transition was planned from the first half of the year, and that Rolim did not want to remain at the head of INSS for a long time, having accepted the invitation of the minister. Onyx Lorenzoni return to the secretariat. Behind the scenes, however, Oliveira’s close ties to the political world are cited as the reason for his rise.

According to Estadão / Broadcast with two government sources, the new INSS president is appointed from PSD, the party that unites Centrão and has the second largest closed committee in Senate (12 parliamentarians) and the fifth largest in Camera (35 deputies). It was from the SDP that Oliveira served as an advisor to Sao Paulo from October to December 2012 – he was elected deputy TObut before getting a job he switched to PSD.

Oliveira appears in a photo taken in early 2020, next to the current president of the SDP. Gilberto Cassab, and President of the Brazilian Service Center (Cebrasse) Joao Diniz at a meeting to discuss proposals for tax reform, then discussed in the National Congress. At the time, he was still the Superintendent of the INSS. Despite their proximity, the leaders of the SDP deny that the legend is to blame for the nomination.

But this is not the only political connection of Oliveira, who is also called “godson” Arnaldo Faria de Sa, former federal deputy PTB and now a counselor in Sao Paulo at PP… The congressman positions himself as a defender of retirees and was one of the main fighters against the reform. pension during government Michelle Temer…

At the end of 2014, Oliveira was appointed parliamentary secretary of the Faria de Sa in the Chamber of Deputies, the information was confirmed by the report of the adviser himself. He remained in this position for about two years. “Since I came to São Paulo, I have moved away from him a little,” says Faria de Sa, who denies any role in the ascent to the INSS presidency. “I have no power. If I had the strength, I would logically fight for him, because I know him, he is an extremely capable person. But this time I didn’t have the pleasure of helping him, ”he says.

INSS’s new president is also close to parliamentarians MDB and has already posed for photographs at the opening of works together with politicians from the PL, a signature that is also part of Centrão. De Oliveira’s interlocutors describe him as a person “who is very much loved in the political environment by several different and very influential players.”

associations

Oliveira’s appointment as head of INSS has raised concerns about the agency’s political use ahead of 2022. The behind-the-scenes assessment is that there are a number of tools that can be put at the service of partisan interests, such as agency renewal of the agency, which will reflect the policy of rationalizing the physical presence of INSS in cities after the digitalization process.

The most sensitive issue, however, is the fight against fraud by retirees’ associations, with irregular discounts on monthly fees and wage deductions. Since 2019, INSS will intensify its work in this direction. In June of the same year, transfers of four suspicious organizations were suspended. Since then, there have been a series of cancellations of agreements, which directly affected the treasury of these associations, many of which were investigated. Federal Ministry of State (FPM)…

Performance has declined since May 2021, when Oliveira took over as Director of Benefits, the area responsible for these agreements. Some of the organizations have party ties. Reports received in the report indicate that at least two associations were in the process of being canceled when Oliveira was appointed to the board, but the agreements are still in effect today.

According to Estadão / BroadcastThe cancellation of this type of transfer was precisely what forced Rolim to step down as President of INSS in early 2021. Government sources heard in the report claim that the Senate President, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) was one of those asking for Rolim’s head. At the time, the senator was still associated with DEM, but was already in talks with PSD.

The upkeep of Rolim was negotiated by members of the government, with a partner that Oliveira took over the Remuneration Board, where he would oversee the agreements. The political sponsor also arrived with the indication that he will take over as President of INSS this December. Changes were expected during the final vote on the report CPI on Covid-19 and the government’s difficulties in advancing its agenda in the Senate.

O Estadão / Broadcast he contacted Pacheco’s press service, which said that the Senate President “has nothing to do with either the new president or the previous one” and “did not take part in the change in the leadership of the body.” The report will also question INSS on Sunday 7th and will include its position as soon as a response from the agency is received.