Chamber rejects agreement on rotation of MPs with Senate – 03/21/2023 – Power

House leaders rejected the proposal for a relay with the Senate on the analysis of provisional measures (MPs) –proposals sent by the federal government and which have immediate effect– and extended the impasse in Congress.

Despite being an internal matter for the Legislature, this clash has generated problems for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Without an agreement on the MPs’ rite, the progress of proposals sent by the government, such as the reorganization of the Esplanade and the re-encumbrance of fuels, is stuck.

Concerned, government allies and Senate leaders are considering resuming, in spite of the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), the old system for processing MPs, which is provided for in the Federal Constitution.

Lira and members of the Chamber are contrary to the model that was in force until the pandemic, when MPs went through a commission made up of deputies and senators and, later, went to the Chamber and, finally, to the Senate.

Since the pandemic, MPs proposals no longer go through committees and the texts start already in the plenary of the Chamber and, only later, in the Senate.

The Chamber does not want to lose influence over these MPs, as this gives it more bargaining power with the Planalto Palace.

Centrão leaders also recognize that, by extending the impasse with the Senate, the government is harmed. This, therefore, sends yet another message to the Planalto Palace that it is necessary to speed up political negotiations so that Lula forms a cohesive base in the Chamber.

Lula’s allies in the Senate say that Lira and members of the Chamber had signaled an agreement for the MPs to be alternated – one starting with the Chamber and another starting with the Senate, and so on.

The final word on the legislative text belongs to the House where it begins to be analyzed. Therefore, members of the centrão are interested in continuing to influence important agendas for the Planalto.

After meeting this Tuesday (21), the leadership of the Chamber now does not want to give in. The argument is that the Senate already has unique prerogatives, such as approving ministers for the STF (Federal Supreme Court), ambassadors and nominees for regulatory agencies.

The change in the Chamber’s posture irritated senators, mainly Lula’s allies. For this reason, they are considering asking the President of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), to reinstall committees of MPs – which would further increase the tension between the two Houses.

While the Chamber started a rebellion against the agreement, Pacheco and Senate leaders also met this Tuesday and had advanced in the articulation so that a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) passes to provide that the MPs begin to be analyzed, alternately, between the Chamber and Senate.

Minister Alexandre Padilha (Secretary of Institutional Relations), responsible for political articulation, asked Planalto interlocutors in Congress to make an effort to conclude the agreement between the Chamber and the Senate – but the plan failed.

Minutes of the PEC even circulated in Congress. But, earlier in the evening, senators were informed that the House had rejected the deal and they scheduled a new meeting with the president of the Senate.

The government had been supporting the idea of ​​a constitutional change to end joint committees. This would suit Lira, who is against these collegiate bodies.

The Constitution establishes that MPs edited by the President of the Republic must be analyzed by the National Congress within 120 days. The rite begins with a commission made up of deputies and senators, who take turns as president and rapporteur.

The scheme was suspended in March 2020 amid reduced activity in Congress to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Since then, the MPs were being voted directly in the plenary of both Houses, starting with the Chamber.

With that, Lira started to control the pace of processing and the appointment of rapporteurs. As the federal deputies did not have a deadline to discuss the text, the senators say that they have become mere “stamp stamps” of what has already been negotiated and decided.

In early February, Pacheco edited an act to resume the constitutional rite of the MPs. Lira, however, resisted and argued that the determination would need to be made jointly by the two legislative houses.