Collor among the 100 most influential members of Congress.
Senator and former President of the Republic, Fernando Collor (PTB-AL), is among the most influential parliamentarians in the National Congress, according to a list released by the Inter-Union Department of Parliamentary Advisory (Diap). The selection takes into account the real influence that each congressman exerts on decision-making processes and on other parliamentarians. Collor and the President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB), are the only representatives from Alagoas on the list, which is composed of 61 deputies and 39 senators.
Alagoas247 This is the 20th edition of the 'Heads of Congress' selection, and it is based on monitoring parliamentary work from February to July 2013. Collor and the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB), are the only representatives from Alagoas on the list, which is composed of 61 deputies and 39 senators - among them Cristovam Buarque (PDT-DF), Jorge Viana (PT-AC), Vanessa Grazziotin (PCdoB-AM), Inácio Arruda (PT-CE), Rodrigo Rollemberg (PSB-DF), Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG), Paulo Paim (PT-RS), Luiza Erundina (PSB-SP) and Eduardo Suplicy (PT-SP).
According to Diap's definition, the 'Heads' of the National Congress are those parliamentarians who manage to differentiate themselves from others through the exercise of qualities and skills that place them in the role of protagonists in the legislative process, "such as the ability to conduct debates, negotiations, votes, articulations and formulations, whether through knowledge, sense of opportunity, efficiency in reading reality and, above all, ease in conceiving ideas, establishing positions, developing proposals and projecting them to the center of the debate, leading its repercussion and decision-making".
The parliamentarians who make up this select group are classified into five categories, according to each one's skills: debaters, articulators/organizers, formulators, negotiators, and opinion leaders. Collor was classified in the 'articulators/organizers' category, which, according to Diap, are "parliamentarians with excellent connections across various political currents, whose ability to interpret the majority's thinking qualifies them to organize and create the conditions for consensus."
Furthermore, DIAP states that the positions held, such as chairing committees, leadership roles, rapporteurships, party missions, leadership of the Chamber or Senate, and reputation among colleagues are fundamental for entry into this exclusive club, although they are not exclusive requirements. And that knowledge, balance, prudence, credibility, and respectability, alongside experience, are attributes that qualify a parliamentarian before their peers and pave the way to influence the decision-making process, including the definition of the agenda.
However, he emphasizes that, "it is not enough for a parliamentarian to be a party leader, committee chairman, rapporteur of an important matter, president of a political party, always in the media, or to have outbursts of bravery to be classified as a 'Head'. Beyond the formal position, the parliamentarian must exercise some skill that demonstrably influences the decision-making process, whether within the party caucus, the committee, the plenary, in behind-the-scenes decisions, or even in informal forums, such as interest groups or blocs."