‎Brazil News

Leaders allied with Bolsonaro want to reduce the values and period of validity of the proposal

 

By Jovem Pan 12/09/2022 08:32 am - Updated on 12/09/2022 08:43 am

    

Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

Deputy with finger in the air speaking

Deputy Ricardo Barros, leader of the Bolsonaro government in the Chamber, defends the reduction of resources and the period of validity of the Transition PEC

The expectation of the parliamentarians allied with the president-elect Luiz Lula da Silva (PT) is to vote on the Transition PEC, also called “ceiling”, next week, between Tuesday and Thursday, in the Chamber of Deputies . The proposal was approved last Wednesday in the Senate with great speed. However, on the side of the base allied with President Jair (PL), the PEC approved in the Senate encounters resistance and parliamentarians who move to change the text of the amendment. The leader of the government in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR) said that the allied base does indeed want to vote on the PEC because it understands that the payment of R$ 600 of the Auxílio Brasil in 2023 is a promise by Bolsonaro, but that the amount of the PEC would need to lower and the term as well. “There is a political will in President  current base to fulfill the commitment he made in the campaign to give the R$ 200 more of the Aid from Brazil [in 2023] and the increase in the minimum wage. That would add up to R$80 billion. The PEC came with much more, let's see how the parliamentarians behave in the voting, ”he said.

 

 

Deputy  Sanderson (PL-RS), deputy leader of the government in the Chamber, sees the PEC as something negative for the Brazilian economy. “At such a difficult time, wanting to send a blank check to the future PT government would be irresponsible. This we are not going to do. I have already stated that I will vote against it in both rounds, because, regardless of the amount, I do not agree with this type of spending. It is a levity that we cannot commit. Therefore, have a reading that, here in the Chamber, it will not be so easy to approve. I have already declared the opposite vote and I am talking to other deputies so that they also have this notion, read with greater dedication the terms of the proposal, so that we block what was approved in the Senate. We are going to file this PEC Pierce-ceiling ”, he said.

 

Lula's team wants the PEC to be approved before the vote on the 2023 budget, which should take place in the last joint session of deputies and senators this year. To save time, the proposal will be attached to another PEC already approved and, thus, goes straight to the plenary of the Chamber. Federal deputies try to negotiate with the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), a way to speed up the progress of the text. Voting on the PEC will take place in two shifts and 308 votes are needed to be approved. Two deputies are disputing the position of rapporteur: Celso Sabino and Elmar Nascimento.

 

 

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), hopes that the proposal approved in the House he commands will not be changed by the deputies. “There was always a perception that the Senate, when making this decision to make the PEC the size it was and under the conditions it was established, an expectation that the Chamber can forward it in the same way. President Arthur Lira himself signaled this possibility for us to join efforts, Senate and Chamber, within the common objective of approving this PEC as urgently as possible, precisely so that the budget report can be prepared by the rapporteur and approved by the National Congress”, said Pacheco. However, leaders say that the Chamber has a majority to vote on the Transition PEC, valid for only one year and not two, as approved by the Senate. This is the biggest claim of supporters of the  government, in addition, they will try to reduce the value to R$ 100 billion. The proposal reached the Chamber with the proposal to breach the spending ceiling by R$ 168 billion.

 

Deputy Tiago Novo-PR) reinforces the argument of concern with public accounts. “I didn't have many expectations that those senators opposed to the PEC would be able to defeat it. I had some expectation that they would be able to reduce the size of the hole it causes within the Brazilian economy, but defeating it, I believe it would be very difficult. I think it managed to do a very small damage minimization in the Senate, reducing the value of the hole to R$ 145 billion, reducing the period from four to two years, but, unfortunately, we still have a very bad result, ”he argues. Despite the criticism, Lula's allies point out that the Transition PEC could also help the current government, since, according to technicians from the Senate budget consultancy, the proposal creates the possibility of expanding the expenses of the 2022 budget by R$ 23 billion , which would solve the difficulties that the president  administration has been having to pay the bills at the end of this year.

 

*With information from the reporter Paula Lobao