Centrão uses government agenda to press for positions – 10/26/2023 – Power

The center tightened the siege on the Planalto and increased the pressure for positions and amendments at a time when the government is racing against time to approve economic measures in Congress that are of interest to President Lula (PT).

Government members already see a tight deadline of 60 days to advance the set of proposals by Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) and the projects that deal with the 2024 Budget.

This Wednesday (25), after Lula decided to dismiss the president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Rita Serrano, and give command of the bank to an ally of the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), the leaders of the center came to an agreement and unlocked the project to tax offshore companies and the super-rich.

But the center’s demands didn’t stop there. The vice-presidencies of the state bank and the positions of the recreation of Funasa (National Health Foundation) are still missing.

The group that controls the Chamber has used the government’s rush to settle these agendas as a bargaining tool in negotiations over political nominations for federal positions and also to obtain more amendments in 2024, the municipal election year.

Currently, there are R$46.3 billion in parliamentary amendments in the 2023 Budget, which is already a record amount. Parliamentary amendment is the mechanism by which deputies and senators send money to finance works and projects in their electoral strongholds.

Congress is preparing an attack to take more power from Lula in controlling the 2024 amendments. But the Palácio do Planalto is trying to articulate a way out so that the government maintains influence over the destination of these resources.

The negotiations are moving towards an increase in the amount reserved for next year’s amendments, but avoiding a major dehydration of the government’s influence over this amount.

The Congress leadership is working so that, next year, President Lula becomes more tied down and is forced to release the amendments according to a schedule to be defined by the parliamentarians themselves.

The center’s strategy is to guarantee more money for the amendments in the first half of the year, which politically strengthens the mayoral candidates sponsored by deputies and senators.

After the first semester, a period called closed season comes into effect in election years, which stops most of these types of transfers to states and municipalities.

In practice, the concentration of transfers at the beginning of the year strengthens those who have representation in Congress. Jair Bolsonaro’s PL is the largest party in the Chamber and counts on its group of deputies to take the lead in the number of city halls in the country next year.

Lula’s political organizers are already resigned to this point. They find it difficult to get Congress to back down from the idea, but they try to impose a limitation.

The Planalto Palace’s counter-proposal has been to ease the mandatory implementation of amendments. The government wants that, if tax collection is lower than expected for the period, it will not be compulsory to release the number of amendments to the schedule.

Still in relation to the amendments, Congress is trying to change the 2024 rules so that Lula is forced to make these transfers in the same year. Today, not all amendments are compulsory, which leaves room for the government not to respond to requests from opposition parliamentarians.

This measure is rejected by the government, which tries to convince congressmen that this would hamper the Budget.

After the end of the rapporteur’s amendments, widely used during the Bolsonaro administration, Lula created a new model of political negotiation around these resources. Around R$10 billion of this year’s total of R$46.3 billion are in ministries’ coffers and are not officially classified as amendments.

Palácio do Planalto seeks to maintain this mechanism, which gives the government more power over this money, as transfers are only made with the approval of ministers.

Congressional leadership has told allies that this format has not worked well and has generated friction between congressmen and the government due to the delay in releasing the funds. Therefore, the creation of a leadership amendment is being studied, which would guarantee almost absolute control of parliamentarians in the management of resources.

To avoid a defeat for Lula in managing money, the possibility of increasing the value of the ministries’ budget that will be reserved for Congress next year is being negotiated.

Changes to these rules for 2024 will be voted on, first, by the Joint Budget Committee and then in a joint session of Congress. The government’s political articulation has adopted a cautious tone in political negotiations because the commission is controlled by parliamentarians who want to nominate allies for Funasa.

Representative Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE) is the rapporteur of the Budget Guidelines Law, which provides the basis for the formulation of next year’s Budget. Senator Daniela Ribeiro (PSD-PB) is president of the committee and sister of deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-AL), one of the most influential in the Chamber. These three parliamentarians are running for Funasa, along with members of the Republicans.

The government wants to postpone this impasse and only make political appointments next year. But the Palácio do Planalto has been pressured to speed up this issue.

In addition to the demands for Funasa, the center intends to expand the movement to occupy the vice-presidencies of Caixa.

Lira placed an ally, Carlos Antônio Vieira Fernandes, in charge of the bank. The PP must also take the majority of the 12 vice-presidencies. The division of these positions is a way of meeting the demands of parties close to Lira, such as Republicans and União Brasil.