Dirceu pressures Lula to defend the PT.

Former minister demands former president defend those convicted from the party in Criminal Action 470 and claims that his strategy paved the way for the "criminalization" of the PT since 2005, when the so-called "mensalão" scandal broke; with the focus on Dilma Rousseff's reelection, Lula is said to have explained his strategy as a way to avoid prolonging electoral damage; the PT will express its support for the prisoners at the party's next congress, from December 12th to 14th.

November 25, 2013, 07:37 PMUpdated July 10, 2018, 15:09 pm

Former minister demands former president defend those convicted from the party in Criminal Action 470 and claims that his strategy paved the way for the "criminalization" of the PT since 2005, when the so-called "mensalão" scandal broke; with the focus on Dilma Rousseff's reelection, Lula would have explained the strategy as a way to avoid prolonging electoral damage; the PT will express its support for the prisoners at the party's next congress, from December 12 to 14 (Photo: Roberta Namour)

247 - Former minister José Dirceu, imprisoned in Papuda serving his sentence for the AP 470 case, known as the mensalão scandal, has been pressuring former president Lula to defend the convicted members of the Workers' Party.

Unhappy with the former president's distance from the case, he sent the message through PT (Workers' Party) colleagues who visited him in prison. Dirceu claims that Lula erred from the moment the scandal broke in 2005. According to him, by not politicizing the accusation of vote-buying in Congress, Lula paved the way for the "criminalization" of the PT.

Former PT president José Genoino, who was also convicted, says the defendants lost "the battle of communication."

Three days later, former President Lula reportedly called José Dirceu to express his solidarity regarding the arrest of his former aide, who served as his Chief of Staff during his first term. "We're in this together," the president reportedly said, according to the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.

According to the newspaper, Lula explained the Planalto's strategy as a way to "avoid prolonging the damage." It was based on a kind of code of silence regarding the developments of the so-called "mensalão" scandal and the conviction and imprisonment of former PT leaders. "We have an agreement not to talk about this subject," admitted the Minister-Chief of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Gilberto Carvalho, during this holiday.

With the controversy surrounding Joaquim Barbosa, president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), regarding his handling of the arrests, the Workers' Party (PT) now believes it can denounce abuses. PT leaders have decided to hold a public demonstration of support for Dirceu, former PT president José Genoino, and former treasurer Delúbio Soares at the opening of the party's 5th Congress, from December 12th to 14th, in Brasília.