You don't mess around with the PMDB.

One of the most level-headed figures in Brazilian politics, the governor of Sergipe, Marcelo Déda, was one of the few voices within the PT (Workers' Party) to explicitly express his discomfort with the victories of Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL) and Henrique Eduardo Alves (PMDB-RN) in the recent Senate and Chamber of Deputies elections. According to Déda, it would be better for the country, and for Congress itself, to have greater plurality in both legislative houses. Today, a single party drives the parliamentary agenda.

In their initial moves, both Renan and Henrique surprised. The senator from Alagoas, the target of an intense and clearly directed accusatory campaign, launched on the eve of the election, emphatically defended a free press. Henrique Alves, who, as a candidate, defended the prerogative of the Chamber in the controversial issue of whether or not to impeach parliamentarians, adopted a new discourse as the elected president of the House and said that there is no possibility of institutional confrontation with the Supreme Federal Court.

Suddenly, as if by magic, Renan and Henrique, who have been taking a beating every day, may have all their sins forgotten. They may even be transformed into heroes if they are able to distance the PMDB from the PT alliance and bring the country's largest party closer to other possible power projects, such as that of Eduardo Campos, of the PSB, and also that of Aécio Neves, of the PSDB.

In Marcelo Déda's definition, the PMDB is the "mobile center" of Brazilian politics. Therefore, if "la donna è mobile" (woman is mobile), there is no difficulty for this to occur. Renan is, by nature, independent. He will always be ready to support any project. But, if you ask Henrique Alves who his heart truly beats for, it's not Dilma Rousseff, but Aécio Neves, with whom he is a personal friend, just as his father, Aluizio Alves, was one of the best companions of the old Tancredo.

Therefore, the apparent change of sides by the Speaker of the House in the case involving the mandates of José Genoino (PT-SP) and João Paulo Cunha (PT-SP) may be just the first of a series of betrayals. And the PT, which so celebrated the elections of the two PMDB members, risks spending Carnival with a hangover. With no prospect of improvement on Ash Wednesday. You don't mess with the PMDB.