The future of Transportation

Rodolfo Borges_247, from Brasília – Alfredo Nascimento's resignation as Minister of Transport only partially resolved the problem that the corruption allegations in the Ministry caused for President Dilma Rousseff's government. A replacement for the position still needs to be chosen, and if the Republican Party (PR) doesn't relinquish the post, the president has another opportunity to replace a political minister with a technocrat, as she did when she replaced Antonio Palocci with Gleisi Hoffmann in the Civil House.

Initial discussions on the matter were fruitless. The PR party caucus was meeting with the Minister of Institutional Relations, Ideli Salvatti, at the Planalto Palace on Wednesday afternoon when Senator Magno Malta, the party's leader in the Senate, received a phone call in which Nascimento announced his departure from the Ministry. There was no consensus on the best candidate, and the lack of understanding led Malta to speak on the Senate floor about the importance of addressing the issue calmly.

The curious thing is that, upon returning to the Senate and the presidency of the PR party, Alfredo Nascimento is positioning himself to participate in discussions about his successor. Within the party, the most frequently mentioned names are those of Senator Blairo Maggi (MT) – who was reportedly approached earlier in the week –, former Bahia senator César Borges, and Congressman Luciano Castro (RR). But Dilma's preferred candidate would be the executive secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Paulo Sérgio Passos, a technically qualified individual. Choosing a technically qualified person would help to free the Ministry from its association with the PR party, reinforcing the impression that the president has indeed taken action against the corruption allegations that involved not only Nascimento, but the entire party.

Upon returning to the Senate, Nascimento takes the seat of João Pedro (PT-AM), known for his friendship with former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who for many was the guarantor of the now former minister during the last five days. Alfredo Nascimento has been suffering since Saturday due to allegations in Veja magazine, and articles published this Wednesday by the newspaper O Globo and the magazine IstoÉ contributed to worsening the senator's situation, even though the allegations about the senator's son's sudden enrichment and the PR party's actions in the Ministry of Transport were already public knowledge.

Now, Nascimento will have to defend himself as a senator, and he has already received a warning from his colleagues: he will face proceedings in the Senate Ethics Committee. "His (Nascimento's) desire is to come to this house to resume his mandate and defend his honor," said the leader of the PR party in the Senate, Magno Malta (ES), after receiving the news that his colleague was leaving the Ministry. Malta took the opportunity to emphasize the loyalty of the PR party, which has been part of the government's base since Lula's time.