Part of the crowd at Brazil's Independence Day parade shouted for an end to the 6x1 work schedule as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived at the Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasília on Monday. According to Folha de S.Paulo, the chants alternated with cries of "olê, olê, olá, Lula, Lula" and with the anthems played by the band throughout the parade.
Lula watched the ceremony from the presidential box alongside the heads of Brazil's three branches of government: Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) President Edson Fachin, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre and Chamber of Deputies President Hugo Motta. First lady Janja da Silva and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin also attended, according to the news site G1. At another point, parts of the crowd shouted "sem anistia", or "no amnesty", Folha reported.
The 6x1 schedule means six consecutive workdays followed by a single day of rest. A proposed constitutional amendment on the scale, the PEC da 6x1, is pending in Congress. The same demand reached the streets that day: the annual Grito dos Excluídos demonstrations carried calls for housing and for the end of the 6x1 schedule, according to Brasil 247.
A sober tone in an election year
The parade marked the 204th anniversary of Brazil's independence. Its themes were national sovereignty, violence against women and the 2027 Women's World Cup, which Brazil will host, alongside the traditional display by the Armed Forces. The government used the motto "A Força que Uni o Brasil" ("The Force that Unites Brazil"), Folha reported. On the advice of the Attorney General's Office (AGU), the event kept an institutional character, with no elements that could be read as partisan campaigning during the election season, G1 reported. The presidency estimated 70,000 people attended.
Fachin attended as the Supreme Court navigates an internal crisis. Attorney General of the Union Jorge Messias and Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, two figures in the latest clash, a Federal Police report requested by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, were both present. The two passed close to each other without greeting each other; Messias left around 10:20 a.m., while the parade was still under way, Folha reported. Last year, no Supreme Court justice attended the celebrations, which took place during the trial of the coup plot, G1 noted.
What happens next is up to Congress. Alcolumbre has said the 6x1 amendment and a public security amendment will wait until after the October election, in which Lula is running for reelection.