Solon Brochado: After about a year of the Lula administration, some of the leftmost members of the PT went into a collision course with the Executive power on bills they deemed “too liberal”. The result was some senators and representatives were expelled, and decided to start a far-left party, called PSOL (Socialism and Freedom Party).
When petistas all over the country were shocked with the administration’s entanglements in the vote-buying scandal that triggered a crisis that’s still to pass, a good part of those utopian voters, who elected Lula in the hopes of a magical transformation of the country, turned to PSOL as the bearers of truth. After all, they stood by their principles, even when it meant being expelled from the party they had helped to start some twenty years before.
Now, a PSOL senator has been charged with collecting 40% of his employees’ income. He says it’s a conspiracy engendered by the PT administration currently on the government of Acre. At any rate, it should be interesting to see how the PSOL handles their first political scandal.
PSOL will wait for investigations on senator charged with “mensalinho”
The PSOL National Executive won’t take any measures against senator Geraldo Mesquita (PSOL-AC) until all investigations on the charges of the supposed collecting of “mensalinho” are finished. That’s what the press office of senator Heloisa Helena, the party’s national president, had to say.
The party’s heads got together tuesday afternoon to discuss the Mesquita affair. The Acre senator is charged with collecting 40% of his aides’ earnings. Monday, in a speech at the Plenary, Mesquita defended himself saying he was involved in the scheme by an employee who works at his cabinet in Acre.
The senator attributed responsibility for the charges on the government of Acre, administered by the PT.
On wednesday Mesquita said he didn’t participate in the reunion but he’s sure it wasn’t called to discuss his affair.
“As far as I know, it was an informal meeting. Of course the charges against me were discussed, but I would never let the party gather, on an embarassing situation, to determine how to handle me. From the beggining I’ve put my filiation at the party’s disposal”, the senator said.
Mesquita also demanded the Senate’s Ethics Council to open their investigations. “I’ve provoked the Council, asked for the opening of all investigations, put my bank registers at their disposal, I don’t know what else to do”.
