Mourão says social media does not reflect the government's position and wants to build bridges with Maia.

Reuters - Acting President Hamilton Mourão stated this Friday that social media does not reflect the government's opinion, referring to recent statements by one of President Jair Bolsonaro's sons that caused unease with the Speaker of the House, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), and advocated for building bridges with the congressman.

Until then the main architect of the pension reform, Maia had already been showing discontent by demanding more coordination from the government, along with some warnings.

But the temperature rose exponentially starting on Wednesday, when the clearly irritated Speaker of the House leveled harsh criticism at one of the government's super-ministers, Sérgio Moro, of Justice and Public Security—a "Bolsonaro employee," in the congressman's words.

"If President Rodrigo is bothered by this, it is up to us in the government to build bridges and talk to him," said Mourão, who is acting as President of the Republic during Bolsonaro's trip to Chile.

"Social media has nothing to do with the opinion that all of us in the government, in the Executive branch, have about him as president of one of the Houses of the Legislature," the acting president stated to Radio Gaúcha. "I particularly consider Congressman Rodrigo Maia an unconditional supporter of the main ideas we have, and I count, as do all of us in the government, on his support."

In a Twitter post on Thursday, councilman Carlos Bolsonaro (PSC-RJ) retweeted an excerpt from a statement released by Moro the previous day, in response to Maia, who complained of interference and warned that the minister's anti-crime bill would be voted on at the "opportune" moment in the House.

"If we pay attention to social media, we won't get anything else done," Mourão said this Friday. "I think we need to focus, concentrate on our work, seek the necessary resilience to implement the reforms the country needs, and pay less attention to this social media issue."

Despite the irritation of recent days, Maia made a point of renewing his support for the reform this Friday. In response to a tweet from São Paulo state deputy Janaina Paschoal (PSL), the Speaker of the House also stated on Twitter that "I will never stop defending the pension reform."

Mourão acknowledged that these "noises" cause "strangeness," but stated that members of the "first tier," such as himself and the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, have sought to maintain "a well-balanced position" on the pension reform.

"And we believe that we need the necessary perseverance and patience to address this issue and convince not only the general population, but also Parliament, of the need for this reform."

For Mourão, however, it is "very important" that Moro's public security project be approved, despite what he called "some difficulty" in moving forward.

By Maria Carolina Marcello