PSL Party Crisis Leaves Eduardo Bolsonaro’s Embassy Nomination on Hold

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro‘s efforts to place his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, at the helm of the PSL party in the Chamber of Deputies, has left the deputy’s chances of taking over the Brazilian embassy in Washington in abeyance.

The president announced his intent to name his son to the position three months ago, but so far the appointment has not been made official.

According to assessments by people close to the president, the PSL crisis has become a kind of “honorable way out” for Eduardo to abandon the project of becoming Ambassador.

Bolsonaro staff members say that, despite the pilgrimage to the US with his father, Eduardo failed to persuade a sufficient number of senators to support his name – which could lead to a resounding defeat for the government. Allies minimize the deputy’s responsibility for the failure and place the blame on the delay in the discussion of the Welfare reform and on the difficulties faced by the government with the release of budget funds to Chamber members.

A further point supposedly discussed with the president was Eduardo’s political future, viewed today by the Bolsonarist network and by people close to him as the “natural choice” as his father’s political successor before the names of his children “#1”, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, and “#2”, the city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro.

In an interview in the Chamber yesterday, Eduardo admitted that the position abroad had been relegated to second place due to the crisis in the party. “All matters such as the embassy and the trip to Asia are secondary. We are here to take care of our voters, my focus is to help the country,” said the president’s son soon after the Bolsonarist bloc nominated him for the PSL leadership in the Chamber.

Officially, the ‘Palácio do Planalto’ does not confirm that the nomination has been suspended. In an interview with the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo earlier this month, Bolsonaro said he would wait for the Senate to vote on the Welfare reform, but left a possible retreat by Eduardo in the air. The government eventually queried the United States about Eduardo’s name for the post and received the green light.

On CBN radio, presidential spokesman Otávio Rêgo Barros said the nomination is preserved and that in due course it will be sent to the Senate.

Fonte: Estadão Conteúdo