Lula Expands Centrão Presence in Esplanada to Secure Congressional Support

Overview

• Planalto negotiators have offered larger shares of ministries to Centrão parties in talks reported across mid-November to win votes the PT no longer controls in the National Congress.
• PT president Edinho Silva has tied cabinet and agency appointments to formal commitments by allied parties so nominees remain in office only if they back key votes.
• Parties in the Centrão are pressing for ministries with bigger investment budgets while the government is pushing to strengthen RP2 ministerial emendas so the executive regains control over discretionary investment funding.
• A more conservative Senate that takes office in February 2027 will complicate confirmations of up to four Supreme Federal Court nominees Lula must name by 2030, raising pressure to pick less polarizing candidates and negotiate with Senate leaders.
• Inside the PT, Rafael Fonteles has emerged as a leading successor and the party publicly backs closed‑list proportional representation with quotas even as a Poder360 audit shows 35 figures linked to Lava Jato won or joined winning tickets in 2026, reshaping debates over accountability and party reform.