Renan faces hysteria over Petrobras CPI.
A report by Veja magazine provokes rehearsed reactions; former president Fernando Henrique demands a strong reaction from the Senate, PSDB member Carlos Sampaio announces legal action, and the ever-hysterical Reinaldo Azevedo calls for the head of the state-owned company's president, Graça Foster; now, the president of Congress, Renan Calheiros, enters the scene to separate electoral excitement from serious matters that need to be investigated; in May, he himself appointed members of the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) on behalf of an opposition that boycotted the commission's work; how will Renan act this time: will he be a firefighter or an arsonist?
Marco Damiani 247 – A constant subject of passionate debate, especially during election campaigns, Petrobras continues to provoke strong reactions among politicians. The same opposition that, in May, when the state-owned company's Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) was established, did not nominate members for its composition, now presents a unified discourse, bordering on hysterical in sectors of the traditional media, about the need to investigate the same CPI. In particular, regarding the relationships between government supporters and company executives, which, according to a report in Veja magazine, involved the exchange of pleasantries and strategic information before and during the testimony sessions.
In this case, which journalist Jânio de Freitas of Folha de S. Paulo is calling a "banal scandal," the opposition is naturally trying to take maximum advantage. As the mood-maker of his party, former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso requested a thorough Senate investigation into what, to him, appears to have been a moment of promiscuous relations between investigators and those being investigated. The legal coordinator of the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) campaign, Carlos Sampaio, requested the indictment of no fewer than eight alleged individuals involved in the agreement, including the president of Petrobras, Graça Foster. With a management style marked by record-breaking production in the pre-salt fields, Graça also became the target of the righteous fury of columnist Reinaldo Azevedo. Showing his teeth, as is his style, he demanded the executive's resignation.
Amidst the noisy political action that arose from Veja magazine's editorial highlighting of the suspicion, Senate President Renan Calheiros entered the scene. In April, as mandated by the House rules, he proceeded with the establishment of the Petrobras CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry), respecting the rules of proportionality of the party blocs in its composition. Government supporters were given the presidency and the rapporteurship due to their greater numerical presence in the plenary. As a result, the opposition, which had secured the CPI's approval, felt they would have no chance of conducting the thorough investigation they desired into the state-owned company. And, like someone who tires of a pastime, they decided to boycott the CPI itself, not nominating the three members they were entitled to. It fell to Renan, to ensure the commission's functioning, to nominate senators to fill the vacant seats.
Now, once again, Renan finds himself urged to act. To separate, from the entire debate, what is hysteria from what is a real reason for suspicion, he ordered this Tuesday, the 5th, the installation of an inquiry commission, composed of three Senate employees, to investigate what actually happened during the course of the CPI's work.
"We are complying with Senator Vital do Rego's request and ordering the formation of an inquiry commission to clarify all the facts and establish responsibility for those who are guilty," declared Renan. He added that he considers the allegations of supposed fraud in the CPI "very serious." However, he noted that he does not consider it necessary to suspend the activities of the Senate CPI, as demanded by opposition parliamentarians.
"There's absolutely no need to suspend anything," he stated firmly.
For Petrobras, practices such as training executives for official testimonies are routine, as the company made clear in an official statement. Seeking to know, simultaneously, the content of the lines of investigation and the nature of the questions would also be a normal action for any company involved in the same situation. A perfectly legal defensive act.
The opposition, however, agrees with the thesis presented in the Veja magazine article, which states that, even under the guarantee of not being bothered by the opposition – which, it should be reiterated, refused to appoint representatives to the CPI – the company allegedly benefited from non-republican methods to protect itself. Among these methods was receiving questions in advance that may have been sold.
According to Veja magazine, there is a clandestinely recorded video that would prove there was more than just honest maneuvering surrounding the Petrobras CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry). This suspicion is causing the opposition to raise its voice to the highest levels – and Renan has already shown he has the ears and willingness to either diminish or amplify it. It will depend on whether he acts as an arsonist or a firefighter.