Amnesty’s PEC goes against PT flags and violates women’s quotas

The approval of the Amnesty PEC by the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies, this Tuesday (16), was criticized even by deputies from the base of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), despite the support both from the PT and from subtitles from the base allied to the measure. The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 09/2023 also received favorable votes from opposition parliamentarians. The PEC was approved by the majority of members of the Constitution Commission (CCJ), with 45 votes in favor and ten against.

PEC 09/2023 disregards fines and electoral crimes committed by parties between 2015 and 2022 and forgives punishments to political parties that failed to comply with minimum quota rules for the inclusion of women and blacks in their ranks.

Self-amnesty for the parties is “shameful”, according to Deputy Tarcísio Mota (PSOL-RJ), who is part of the base of support for the PT government. He pointed out that PSOL rebelled against the PEC because it represents a “broad, general and unrestricted amnesty” for parties that did not comply with legal provisions for the inclusion of blacks and women in politics. Affirmative actions and quotas are the main mechanisms for expanding women’s political participation, also highlighted congresswoman Sâmia Bonfim (PSOL-SP).

The president of the PT, deputy Gleisi Hoffman (PT-PR), defended that the discussion in the CCJ is only about the constitutionality of the proposal, and that the content of the matter will be adequately defended by a Special Commission. Gleisi, however, admitted that there are problems in complying with affirmative policies of inclusion in politics and stated that, in his view, the Amnesty PEC is the opportunity to constitutionalize gender and race quotas, which must be included in the Federal Constitution. At the same time, she stated that the fines applied by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) are unenforceable and only serve to make parties unfeasible.

On the other hand, another parliamentarian who considers the amnesty shameful is Chico Alencar (PSOL-RJ). “I find it amazing that a very large majority of deputies do not question this”, he pondered, who, like 14 other parliamentarians, asked to withdraw the signature of the PEC. “This proposal is flagrantly unconstitutional,” said the congressman.

The parties of the left, who voted for quotas for the inclusion of women and blacks in politics, are contradicting themselves by breaking the law and voting for amnesty, in the evaluation of federal deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP). “Here there is no PT or Bolsonarist, because both signed the proposal. At the time of impunity, they join hands”, said Kataguiri. “I’ve never seen a deal so lurid, so hypocritical, being approved by the left who were against funding and other issues like that”, criticized the parliamentarian.

The Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 09/23, by deputy Paulo Magalhães (PSD-BA), prohibits the application of sanctions to political parties for non-compliance with the minimum quota of resources for female candidates until the 2022 elections, or for the installments of accounts prior to April 5, 2022. It was on this date that the National Congress enacted Constitutional Amendment 117, which earmarked a quota of party resources for female candidates and for the promotion of women’s participation in politics.

Paulo Magalhães said that the PEC seeks to establish an “initial milestone” for the application of sanctions, by the Electoral Justice, for non-compliance with the new rules. He stated that the amendment was enacted in the middle of the election period, and therefore the parties did not have time to adapt.

PT contradicts the banner of increasing the number of women in politics and supports the Amnesty PEC

Despite the expansion of women’s participation in politics being one of the flags of the Workers’ Party (PT), the Amnesty PEC was approved with the support of the party’s deputies. Of the 45 votes in favor of the measure, eight were given by PT parliamentarians. They are: Alencar Santana (PT-SP), Flávio Nogueira (PT-PI), Helder Salomão (PT-ES), Rubens Pereira Jr.(PT-MA), Rui Falcão (PT-SP), Gleisi Hoffmann (PT- PR), Rubens Otoni (PT-GO), and Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ), according to information on the Chamber’s website.

In a different position from what was verified in the CCJ vote, an article published on the party’s website a year ago, on 05/16/23, mentioned that “the PT is a pioneer in the fight for greater participation of women in politics”. The text said that “the PT was the first party to approve a gender quota for leadership positions in party instances, even before there were quotas for women in national legislation. “.

In the same content, the party drew attention to a project by the National Secretariat for Women of the PT to “boost the participation of women in politics and build a feminist platform for Brazil”.

Despite the support of the acronym’s parliamentarians, there were also demonstrations against the approval of the measure within the PT administration. The Ministry of Women defended the overthrow of the Amnesty PEC, contradicting the position of the Lula government on the proposal. The folder released a public note entitled: “When will women’s political participation be taken seriously?”. The text is signed only as “Ministry of Women” and does not mention the name of minister Cida Gonçalves, who was once a candidate for councilor for the PT and is a specialist in public policies for women.

“This is the fourth time that this political right of women has been threatened. PEC 9/2023 is being processed less than a year after the last amnesty approved by the National Congress in May 2022”, says the note. “It is necessary to reinforce that the lack of transfer of resources destined to women by the Quota Law and the systematic lack of responsibility of the parties constitute in the same gender political violence”, emphasizes the ministry.

“The amnesty is not justified, since the rules related to the reserve of 30% by gender have existed in the Constitution since 1997, with a resolution reaffirming that 30% was the minimum in 2015 and another guaranteeing that access to the same should also be 30%. Party Fund since 2018. Therefore, the parties had more than enough time to adapt ”, points out the portfolio.

The Ministry of Women proposes that, instead of the amnesty, the resources not applied in 2022 be allocated to a fund to reimburse women and black people indebted in the campaign. “Overthrowing PEC 9/2023 and enforcing the Law is the true democratic spirit, of unity and reconstruction that Brazil needs at this time”, says the statement.

Manifesto against amnesty

Transparência Brasil and 40 other entities signed an open letter against PEC 9/2023 The document asks parliamentarians to suspend the processing of the measure. The proposal also allows legal entities to allocate donations to the legends to pay debts.

According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), just for irregularities in 2017, political parties would have to return to public coffers around R$ 40 million. After the approval of the constitutionality of the PEC that grants political parties amnesty from paying fines and returning money for electoral crimes, the matter will be discussed by a Special Committee of the Chamber, to be installed with the nomination of members by the political parties.

Lawyer Bianca Maria Gonçalves, from the Observatory of Political Violence against Women, believes that there will be changes in the text throughout the procedure. She said that the idea is to work on suppressive amendments to the approved text, which once again demonstrates a systematic amnesty. According to her, the vast majority of parties fail to comply with the rules, and therefore the PEC is beneficial to almost everyone.

Procedure

It is at this stage that parliamentarians will discuss the merits of the PEC and may present changes to the initial content of the proposal. The special committee will have a period of 40 plenary sessions to issue an opinion. Afterwards, the PEC must be voted by the Plenary in two shifts, with an interval of five sessions between one and the other vote. To be approved, it needs at least 308 votes (3/5 of the deputies) in each of the ballots.

After being approved in the House, the PEC goes to the Senate, where it is analyzed by the Constitution and Justice Committee and then by the Plenary, where it needs to be voted on again in two rounds.

If the Senate approves the text as received from the House, the amendment is enacted by the Boards of the House and Senate. If the text is changed, it goes back to the House for a new vote.