It took too long, former minister.
Orlando Silva, even without evidence against him, should have asked to leave. The issue is political, not legal.
What had been expected since the first accusations surfaced has happened: Orlando Silva has left the Ministry of Sports. A week ago, I wrote here that "Orlando Silva can prove his innocence outside the government, avoiding embarrassment for Dilma on the eve of the World Cup and the Olympics." Why bleed for 12 days when the hemorrhage could have been stopped in 24 hours? That's how it was with him, that's how it was with those who preceded him in dramatic and prolonged crises that led to inevitable resignation, and that's how it will possibly be with those who are yet to come.
In Brazil, there is a misguided understanding that confuses legal innocence with political innocence. The former minister, his lawyer, the PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil), and others who defend him claim that nothing has been proven against him. They are right, from a legal standpoint. There is only the decision to investigate him; nothing yet directly incriminates the former minister. Perhaps nothing ever will.
But that's not what should be taken into account when deciding whether a minister stays in office or not. The legal issue is for the courts. Politically and administratively, Orlando Silva is more than guilty. And he shouldn't even be able to continue in the ministry. What he should have done from the beginning was resign to protect himself, his party, and the government.
The former minister is guilty both politically and administratively because there is no doubt that there were many irregularities in the ministry he headed. There is very clear evidence of corruption, and denying this is impossible. Orlando Silva may not have been directly involved in any of this, but if he knew nothing, or if he knew and did nothing, he is guilty of incompetence, omission, or complicity. It makes no difference; in any situation, he could not remain a minister.
Even with so many precedents, ministers, with the support of their lawyers and consultants, continue to repeat the nonsense that they can remain in their positions because there is no evidence against them. They insist on this and end up having to accept the evidence that the issue is not legal, but political. They wear themselves down, they wear down the government, they wear down the president, and they end up falling.
If there is corruption in the ministry, the minister must act quickly and stop it. That demonstrates competence. If he allows it to proliferate, he must acknowledge that he has no control over his portfolio and resign. He is incompetent for the job.
If this principle were disseminated and viewed naturally, as it is in other countries, things would be easier. It's not about resigning in the face of every accusation published in the press, or every speech by an opposition parliamentarian. But when the evidence piles up and accumulates, when the facts are too glaring, there's no way to escape.
That's what happened with Palocci and the ministers who fell before Orlando Silva. It will happen with the next ones, unless President Dilma reins them all in and demands, with her characteristic firmness, that they urgently curb the corruption that exists in their ministries. If they don't do that, they are serious candidates to repeat the fate of Palocci, Nascimento, Rossi, Novais, and Silva, with or without bloodshed.