Bolsonaro Wins a Senate Ally With Brazil's Reforms on the Line
- New speaker is from same party as leader of lower house
- Two pro-business speakers in place don’t guarantee majority
Demonstrators wave a Brazilian flag.
Photographer: Andre Coelho/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Brazilian senators chose a pro-government lawmaker as their chief, potentially boosting President Jair Bolsonaro’s reform agenda while leaving the administration’s strength in the upper house in question.
Davi Alcolumbre, 41, a little-known legislator from the pro-business DEM party, won by one vote on Saturday after a tumultuous debate that lasted more than 24 hours and saw front-runner Renan Calheiros of the MDB party, the Senate’s biggest, drop out. In the lower house, DEM’s Rodrigo Maia won a third consecutive term as speaker on Friday.