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On Monday (16/01), an assembly voted to remove Josué Gomes from the presidency of Brazil’s most important federation of industries, the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp). His removal was approved by 47 union representatives. According to political analysts from many media outlets, this was a response to Gomes’ decision to sign a letter in favor of democracy a few months before the 2022 elections, which was seen as a movement of opposition to former President Jair Bolsonaro. The fact probably represents resistance in the industrial sector to Lula’s administration.
Firs Time
According to Miguel Reale Jr., Gomes’ lawyer, this is the first time in the history of Fiesp that a president has been removed. He adds that, even though, the possibility of loss of mandate in command of Fiesp is foreseen in article 27 of the statute, out of the 12 points presented by the unions to justify the Gomes’ removal, none of them fall under Article 27. The lawyer also says that they are side issues and have been answered.
The unions’ points also included the fact that Josué signed on behalf of Fiesp, a manifesto for democracy. Despite being non-partisan, the document was understood to be in opposition to then-President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) – of whom the former Fiesp President – and still influential – Paulo Skaf was an ally and supporter in the 2022 elections. This was, in Reale Jr.’s assessment, the real reason for the voting to remove Gomes from the Presidency, a position he has just taken, after 17 years of Skaf’s presidency. The articulation of this measure against Gomes is also attributed by other analysts to Skaf, who has been opposed to the Worker’s Party (PT) for a long time. He even supported protests in favor of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment. To some experts, he would be planning to return to the leadership of Fiesp.
The connection of Gomes to the current Brazilian President is old. He is son of Lula’s former Vice-President José Alencar and, in 2022, was invited to become part of the new government as of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister, an offer which he refused.
Judicial Fight
Josué intends to ignore the result, which he considers illegitimate, and continue commanding the federation. He awaits the next step of his opponents, which may be a court decision to endorse his removal. His defense alleges that the rules of the federation do not allow voting on a dismissal.
Meanwhile, on Thursday (19/01), Fiesp disclosed a statement to the press, informing that the the businessman “is the president of the entity and is fully exercising his functions, as determined by the statutes in force”. In response, his opponents met on Friday (20/01) to inaugurate Elias Miguel Haddad as interim president of the entity.
Opposition
If the analysts’ assessment proves to be true, the move could be interpreted as an action against the current government and a sign of resistance against Lula, who could end up having an opponent in the head of Fiesp.
