Benedito Lyra (born May 1, 1941) is a Brazilian politician from

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. ...

, member of

Progressistas Progressistas (; PP) is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Brazil. Founded in 1995 as the Brazilian Progressive Party, it emerged from parties that were successors to ARENA, the ruling party of the Brazilian military dictatorship. ...

(PP), former Senator for his state and incumbent Mayor of Barra de São Miguel.

Biography

Lira is

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

by the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL). He began his political career as City Councillor in his hometown between 1966 and 1970, and later as City Councillor of

Maceió Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form l ...

for two consecutive terms, between 1973 and 1982. He was State Deputy from 1983 to 1994. In 2002, Lira was elected Federal Deputy for the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), and re-elected in 2006 for the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

(PP). In 2010, he was elected Senator with 904,345 votes, representing 35.94% of the valid votes. In December 2016, he voted in favor of the Constitutional Amendment to limit public expenses (PEC 241). In July 2017, voted to approve the new Labour Reform. In October 2017, voted to maintain Senator

Aécio Neves Aécio Neves da Cunha (; born 10 March 1960) is a Brazilian economist, politician and former president of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). He was the 17th Governor of Minas Gerais from 1 January 2003 to 31 March 2010, and is curren ...

(PSDB-MG) in office, suspending the effects of the decision of the First Group of the Supreme Federal Court, in an investigation which he is accused of corruption and obstruction of justice after asking for R$ 2 million (US$ in 2017) to businessman Joesley Batista.

Controversies

Ambulances mafia

Benedito de Lira was one of the involved in the scandal of overpriced ambulances, also known as "leeches".

Corruption in Petrobras

Benedito de Lira, and his son Arthur Lira, are investigated by the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

in the scheme of corruption in the state oil company Petrobras. The Police found evidences of passive corruption after the conclusion of iopen inquiries to investigate the participation of Benedito and Arthur Lira. According to the report, Arthur and Benedito "benefited with the receivement of undue periodic amounts, from the payment of bribes by companies which had contracts with Petrobras, due to the control of the Progressive Party of the Directory of Supplies, office held by Paulo Roberto Costa, in exchange for votes in projects of interest of the federal government". In February 2016, Lira had his goods blocked by the Supreme Federal Court, in a decision ruled by Justice Teori Zavascki, in a total of R$1.6 million (US$ ) The request for the blocking was made by the Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot, who was responsible for the investigation against federal parliamentaries in the operation.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lira, Benedito Living people 1942 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alagoas Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Alagoas Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Progressistas politicians