The increasingly violent clashes between advisers in the capital Minas Gerais and Mayor Alexander Kalil (SDP) have achieved unprecedented results in relations between the two powers in Belo Horizonte.
Rise TIME Over the past 30 years, he notes that conflicts between the legislature and the executive have been less in the management of former mayors Eduardo Azeredo (PSDB), Patrus Ananias (PT), Celio de Castro (PSB), Fernando Pimentel (PT). and Marcio Lacerda (COB).
In the report, former councilors and current congressmen analyzed the reasons for the escalation of tensions. Opponents call Kalil’s “aggressive style” an obstacle to good relations. Already allies claim that the “political game of 2022” is the main factor influencing the current crisis.
CPI
Kalil was the target of two indictments in reports approved by the CPI BHTrans and Covid-19 last week, and was named as the culprit for crimes such as malfeasance, embezzlement (embezzlement of public funds) and administrative misconduct.
The main issue that raised questions from the two commissions was the contract with the mayor’s office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which provided R $ 220 million to bus companies for the purchase of transport vouchers and transfers. The mayor’s office denies the existence of violations and says that the money will be returned to the state treasury.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. There has never been a relationship close to what is happening now, ”complained House Government Leader, Councilor Leo Burges (PSL), hours after voting on the second CPI report. “The House of Representatives only had two CPIs in the last three or four decades, and now four CPIs in less than a year. At CPI Covid, we had a report that was voted on, but members did not have time to read the text, ”says Bourgeois, who was President of the Chamber from 2011 to 2014.
Council members who participated in the CPI reject the government leader’s analysis and point to several irregularities revealed during the work of the commissions.
“The move to bus companies was clearly illegal. This should have been done by law, but it didn’t. Public money is not lent to private companies, ”says Nicolas Ferreira (PRTB).
Mountaineering
Earlier this year, after a R $ 900 million loan project for flood control works in the Venda Nova area was rejected by the Chamber, the mayor sent out an email to his secretaries vetoing that the city’s top-level team adopted 13 parliamentarians who voted against the mayor’s office.
Opposing councilors demanded more details on the loan and counted the amount as a “blank check” for the city. Kalila’s e-mail to the secretaries leaked among the advisers and caused a lot of discontent.
In May this year, during a meeting of the House of Representatives, Calil and Ferreira exchanged attacks and remarks, while the mayor said that “the boy’s courage is answered with a slap,” ridiculing the councilor.
Since then, relations with some of the parliamentarians have deteriorated more and more. Last month, the mayor demanded a “pose and composure” from councilors after CPI Covid released audio recordings of conversations with him, Alberto Lage, the former chief of staff of Kalil.
A former ally of Kalil in the 2016 campaign, Councilor Gabriel Azevedo (non-partisan) led the CPI BHTrans and became one of the main opponents of the PBH.
“He doesn’t want to rule the city. He leaves town. When he was elected, he said he would open the BHTrans black box. Didn’t open. When he was elected, he said he would do away with trinkets. Use them. When he was elected, he said that BH would have a mayor. It won’t end in about a quarter. Whom is he trying to deceive? “He asks.
Councilor Pedro Patrus (PT) assesses that there was “anticipation of electoral controversy,” but considers the CPI’s work to be legitimate.
“These are important tools, control is part of our function. For example, the release of BHTrans was more than necessary for the CPI to investigate and analyze the contracts of bus companies. As for the CPI Covid, I see it as a more political commission. ”
Comparison with previous administrations
Former councilors in the state capital, Minas Gerais, view the level of the current crisis and the occasional exchange of insults between the mayor and parliamentarians as unprecedented, which worries the city. Just under three decades ago, then-mayor Patrus Ananias and then adviser Ronaldo Gontijo took opposite sides in politics in the capital, Minas Gerais. However, recalling the political controversies of the 1990s, they agree that the relationship was “much more respectful.”
“I served as an advisor for six terms and joined them in 1993 as an opposition. He was vehemently opposed to PT and we had conflicts over some projects, such as the one for a multiple school. But our attitude was more focused on clashing ideas rather than disputes that would be passed on to staff, ”says Gontijo.
Former Mayor of Belo Horizonte and now a federal lawmaker, Patrus recalls conversations with political opponents and considers past clashes healthier. “I had a very good relationship with the Chamber, of course, with its conflicting spaces, but always in search of dialogue and respect for the hearing. I had one day a week to receive counselors and women counselors. I knew that their demands should be listened to, both from the base and from other sides. ”
Profile
According to former adviser Luzia Ferreira, who chaired the Chamber of Belo Horizonte from 2009 to 2010, the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government depends on the ability to dialogue, as well as on the profile of the mayor.
“I think the mayor’s profile ultimately helped create conflicts with the current chamber. We have a fragmented parliament making it difficult to reach consensus and build a solid foundation, but this scenario has been around for a long time. In addition to his personal style, Kalil was elected, despising politics, pointing to it as something negative, and I think that after his re-election, he got the feeling that he would not need to engage in dialogue with the Chamber, ”analyzes Luzia.
The report sought former mayors Marcio Lacerda, Eduardo Azeredo and Fernando Pimentel to comment on the relationship with the Chamber, but there was no response.
