PT Calls Vaccari's Arrest "Unnecessary", but Removes him from Treasury

04/16/2015 - 12h47

In a statement announcing João Vaccari's Neto dismissal as party treasurer, Workers' Party (PT) management called his arrest "unnecessary" and "unjustified", given that "he has cooperated fully with authorities" since the beginning of investigations.

The party also reiterated its "belief in Vaccari's innocence." "Not only because of his conduct as party treasurer," said the statement, "but also because of the principle that all are innocent until proven guilty."

The PT intends to name Vaccari's replacement by Friday. The new treasurer is likely to come from Construindo um Novo Brasil ("Building a New Brazil") [CNB], the main faction within the party.

A wing of the party argued that Vaccari should have been removed in November, when the first allegations against him began to emerge. However, Vaccari is from CNB and is an ally of PT president Rui Falcão, who insisted he remain in his job.

Former president Lula also argued that Vaccari should remain as treasurer, but in recent days, as the net has begun to close, he told allies that he would prefer Vaccari's immediate removal.

It was Lula who drafted the PT's reaction to Vaccari's arrest, in a meeting with Falcão on Wednesday at the Lula Institute.

Lula ordered the party to publish a statement in Vaccari's defense, announcing that he was responsible for Vaccari's dismissal, in an attempt to exonerate PT management from any blame for the delay in taking action.

Despite resisting attempts to remove him from the party treasury, Vaccari had been expecting to be arrested since October of last year. "I thought they would arrest me during the campaign, and I was ready for it," he told an ally just a month after President Rousseff's re-election.

Vaccari has always argued that the Federal Police's Operation Lava Jato aims to "transform legal donations into illegal donations and create a media frenzy."

"I know what I've done. I've never worked with Paulo Roberto Costa [ex-Petrobras director currently under house arrest]," Vaccari repeated in meetings and in the corridors of PT headquarters in São Paulo.

Right up until his arrest, Vaccari had been assuring PT management that there was no evidence against him. "It's just hearsay, people who know me talking, but nobody is saying they gave me money illegally."

MISTAKE

The Planalto Palace sees it as an error that PT management did not remove Vaccari from the treasury before his arrest, and has instructed advisors to treat it as something "normal", simply part of autonomous investigations by the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Vaccari's arrest comes at a delicate moment for the government. The administration appeared to have endured the worst of the recent political crisis, last Sunday's (12) protests having been much smaller than those on March 15.

President Rousseff's team were quick to highlight that Rousseff had not wanted Vaccari involved with her campaign fundraising. Instead, she chose Edinho Silva, now minister of social communication.

An advisor told Folha that the president's personal view was that Vaccari should have requested leave from the treasury, but she did not apply any pressure as she considered it an internal matter for the party.

Justice minister José Eduardo Cardozo said that Vaccari's arrest is no cause for concern for the Planalto. "A government that supports the investigations will never be concerned," he said.

Likewise, Vice-President Michel Temer (PMDB) played down the impact of the arrest. "It's a matter for the courts. It has nothing to do with the government," he said.

The PT faction Mensagem ao Partido ("Message to the Party") will present a request for the removal of PT members under investigation in Lava Jato from the party leadership, in a meeting of PT top brass in São Paulo on Friday.

The only person currently in such a situation is Senator Humberto Costa (Pernambuco), PT leader in the Senate and a member of the PT's executive commission.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Carlos Villalba Racines - 5.fev.2015/Efe
	Right up until his arrest, Vaccari had been assuring PT management that there was no evidence against him