Amnesty PEC clashes with decisions to include black people – 05/18/2023 – Power

The Amnesty PEC, which advanced this week in the Chamber and forgives parties that did not comply with gender and racial quotas in the elections, clashes with a set of decisions of the superior courts that aim to strengthen the candidacies of women and blacks in the country.

These are deliberations both in the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and in the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), involving the allocation of resources from the electoral fund, in addition to free advertising time on TV and radio, and a minimum of 30% of female candidacies per party or coalition.

Supported by Lula’s PT and Jair Bolsonaro’s PL, among others, the proposal received the endorsement of 45 CCJ deputies this week, with 10 votes against on Tuesday (16). If approved in the House and later in the Senate, it could promote the largest pardon in history for political parties.

Experts heard by the report reiterate the permissive character of the PEC in relation to measures on gender and race, in addition to the discredit generated to the country’s electoral process.

If approved, the proposal consolidates impunity for widespread non-compliance with these quotas, which came into force slowly over time in order to encourage the participation of women and blacks in politics.

Affirmative policies in the elections came through legislation in 1998, when it began to be mandatory for at least 25% of female candidates in proportional disputes.

In 2000, that number rose to 30%. Despite this, the acronyms did not need to distribute values ​​equally among competitors.

Twenty years later, the Supreme Court defined the need to transfer campaign funds to women in proportion to the number of candidates —that is, at least 30% of the amount.

The deliberation, however, led to orange plaintiffs, as revealed by Sheet in the case of the PSL, then the party of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

In 2020, the TSE decided to make proportional transfers from the electoral fund proportional to the number of blacks and whites, applying the rule also to exposure time in the media. However, irregular registrations appeared, inflating the number of blacks and browns in the Chamber.

Last year, the Electoral Justice also approved a rule for the anticipation of the transfer of funds destined to racial and gender quotas, aiming to avoid the exhaustion of these campaigns due to lack of money.

Analysis made by Sheet rendering of accounts made by parties and candidates before the first round revealed, however, that none of the ten largest parties in Brazil complied with the determination.

These resolutions were ignored by the parties, which later granted amnesty through an amendment to the constitutional text last year, avoiding sanctions for non-compliance with electoral rules.

More recently, judgments concluded by the TSE of the 2017 party accounts show that all 35 parties existing at the time (today there are 31) did not prove the application of the minimum established by law in promoting activities that encourage the participation of women in politics.

In addition, the electoral court disapproved the accounts for that year of 19 initials, and approved those of 16 of them with reservations.

Among the cases, the most emblematic is that of the Pros, which used the funds to build a swimming pool and carry out renovations in the house of the party’s president, Eurípedes Jr., in addition to the purchase of an industrial machine for polishing floors, expenses with the purchase and maintenance of airplanes and helicopters, and the acquisition of machinery, utensils, personnel and inputs typical of a professional restaurant.

Ivair Augusto Alves dos Santos, a political scientist and former advisor to the Special Secretariat for Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality, said that forgiveness for the irregularities of the acronyms is an attack on democracy, and signals the contempt of parliamentarians for the rights of the black population and women .

He says that in addition to the systematic disrespect for the rules, discredit is also imposed on the country’s electoral process, since party leaders can use resources as they wish, increase the chances of certain candidates for election, and then are forgiven for irregularities. .

“This PEC is the concrete demonstration that democracy is for some. [pessoas negras e mulheres] they serve to fight, but not to be voted”, said the researcher.

Ivair argues that the Planalto does not pronounce incisively on the project due to the weak base it has —as the tendency is to lose in the plenary and expose yet another defeat, the Executive calculates that it is better not to get involved in the matter and avoid losses in future negotiations with the legislature.

Tainah Pereira, political scientist and of the Black Women Decide movement, says that the federal government does not take a strong position in relation to the proposed amendment to the Constitution due to the consensus formed between the political parties for the approval of the measure.

According to the researcher, for the rights established by the superior courts to be effective, the political class itself must reach consensus around real and verifiable premises, such as the underrepresentation of women and black people.

“The creation of laws by our Congress that promote diversity that recognize the underrepresentation of certain social groups, as in the case of black women, is urgent. of the political class.”

According to the text approved for the 2020 election, sanctions of any kind are not applied to parties that did not respect the norms in past elections, including devolution of resources, fines or suspension of the party fund.

The amendment frees from punishment parties that did not apply at least 5% of the party fund in programs to encourage women or that did not direct the money from the electoral fund proportionally to the candidacies of blacks and women.

This year, the proposal still allows for the return of business financing to settle debts prior to 2015. So far, 184 deputies have signed the proposal, including government leaders, José Guimarães (PT-CE), and opposition leaders, Carlos Jordy ( PL-RJ).