Members of Parliament accuse Maia of mockery for postponing Cunha's trial.

Current Brazil Network - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), has done everything in recent days to distance himself from the proceedings against Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ) and avoid being the protagonist of actions that would delay his removal from office. But he has failed. Especially after scheduling the session on the future of the former Speaker of the House for September 12th.

Maia adopted a discourse of someone concerned with avoiding bias, but after meetings between him and the Presidential Palace to discuss the issue were discovered, he demonstrated that he was committed to delaying the date and seeking to act in harmony with Michel Temer's interim government.

"He (Maia) canceled all parliamentary work next week so as not to vote on Cunha's impeachment. This is unacceptable and disrespectful to the population. It's almost a mockery of the Brazilian people," said Congressman Henrique Fontana (PT-RS), as soon as he heard the news that the session would be postponed until next month.

According to the congressman, deputy leader of the PT party, although Rodrigo Maia was one of the coordinators of Eduardo Cunha's campaign for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, he cannot forget that today he is the president of the House and needs to act impartially. "Can anyone in Brazil explain to me why Maia didn't schedule the vote for today, for example?" he questioned, referring to yesterday, a Wednesday when the Legislative branch was fully operational.

Deputy Ivan Valente (Psol-SP), who opened the plenary session on Tuesday (9) with harsh criticism of Maia, reiterated that the Speaker of the House "barely took office and is showing that he is not able to guarantee the voting on important matters without delays or setbacks". "His discourse of making decisions independently fell apart with this decision," he added.

Extended friendship

A former ally of Eduardo Cunha, Maia was considered even closer to the ousted congressman after, in 2015, Cunha, then president, decided to remove Congressman Ricardo Castro (PMDB-PI) from the rapporteurship of the political reform and place him in the position. Maia reported on the matter during its voting in the Chamber's plenary session and made modifications to the text according to the wishes of the group of supporters of the then president.

But with the increase in accusations against Cunha, he tried to distance himself. He always avoids giving direct answers about what he thinks about the removal of the suspended congressman. According to reports from congressmen who have been working for almost a year to remove Cunha, Maia called a meeting weeks ago with leaders of the provisional government's base to express that he did not want to "bear the burden" of being solely responsible for the decision on the session. The result was reportedly not the best.

Although the leaders officially agreed to support the need to expedite the session, behind the scenes several of the parliamentarians who participated in the meeting saw signs of weakness in the congressman's handling of the proceedings.

Yesterday afternoon, in yet another blunder, Maia stated, amidst the uncertainty surrounding whether he would indeed confirm the date by the evening, as he had promised, that he intended to "respect the historical average of procedural time observed in processes of this type, to bring the case to a vote." According to him, a study prepared by the general secretariat of the Chamber's board found that this average has been 19 working days, about four weeks. "I've never heard of that," said a member of the PMDB party who has been in the Chamber for 12 years (in his third term) shortly afterwards.

Quorum guarantee?

Regarding accusations that there is a risk of the plenary session being empty by then, due to the municipal election campaigns, the president recalled the importance of the session, how much the topic has been debated throughout the country, and came out with the following statement: "I doubt that the plenary will not be present, regardless of the date."

Despite this, Rodrigo Maia has been defended by the leaders of the PSDB, Antonio Imbassahy (BA), and the DEM, Pauderney Avelino (AM). Avelino stated that "the important thing is that the congressman will be impeached." Imbassahy said that he considers "the procedural concern important in such a controversial process."

But deputies from the PT, PCdoB, PPS, PSOL, and Rede parties fear that the delay in the date will prevent parliamentarians from the so-called Centrão, which has many allies of Cunha, from guaranteeing a sufficient quorum. If this happens, the decision risks being postponed until after the municipal elections.

In an attempt to give further signs that he is impartial in conducting the process, Maia criticized, last Friday (5), the request made by Cunha's defense lawyers to suspend the vote in the plenary session at the Supreme Federal Court (STF). He said that although it is up to the Supreme Court to decide, in his view appeals have already been evaluated in the Ethics Council and in the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ), in the proper way and Cunha's defense "should not have taken this initiative".

But after yesterday's decision, he is the one who has been the target of criticism. "I repeat what I have already stated about this sad episode. The Speaker of the House bowed to the collusion of those who are afraid of future accusations to be made by Cunha against them," Alessandro Molon (Rede-RJ) fired back this morning.