Chamber withholds data on impeachment request against Lula – 02/29/2024 – Power

The General Secretariat of the Board of the Chamber of Deputies refused to provide the official list of federal deputies who signed the impeachment request against Lula (PT) filed by Bolsonaro supporters due to the comparison made by the PT member of Israel’s action in Gaza to the Holocaust.

A Sheet has been requesting the information since last week — the request was filed on Thursday — (22), but the Chamber only directed the formulation of a request via LAI (Access to Information Law), the response period for which can be up to 30 days.

The LAI itself, however, establishes that anyone interested in the information, which is public, can request it “by any legitimate means” and that it is up to the body, in possession of the data, to “authorize or grant immediate access to the available information”.

A Sheet asked the General Secretariat of the Board for a formal position on the reason for the refusal to provide information, in addition to directly seeking out the President of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), through his advisor. There was no response from either the secretariat or Lira until the publication of this report.

The LAI establishes as illegal conduct that entails the responsibility of the public agent, who may be liable for administrative improbity, “refusing to provide information required under this Law, deliberately delaying its provision or intentionally providing it in an incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate manner “.

The collection of signatures for Lula’s impeachment request was organized by Bolsonaro deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), according to whom 140 of the 513 deputies supported the proposal.

Last week, the Chamber reported that, after reviewing the signatures, the document contained 139 of them (but without making the names of the parliamentarians available).

According to the list released by the parliamentarian, the majority of signatures are from Jair Bolsonaro’s PL, but there are also members of parties that have ministries in the Lula government — União Brasil, PSD, PP, MDB and Republicans.

These parliamentarians, however, despite being members of the government base, are already entirely oppositionists, most of them avowed Bolsonarists.

This is the case, for example, of the three MDB parliamentarians on Zambelli’s list — former Bolsonaro minister Osmar Terra (RS), Delegado Palumbo (SP) and Thiago Flores (RO).

Such as Sheet showed, members of the federal government told parliamentarians in the Chamber that those who signed the impeachment request will suffer consequences from the Executive.

The understanding was that deputies who signed the request and indicated regional positions will lose these positions, as well as being less served by the Executive, which includes parliamentary amendments.

The number of signatures on an impeachment request has no practical effect, only symbolic. By law, any citizen can request the removal of the President of the Republic.

Two presidents elected after the country’s redemocratization were the target of impeachment requests and ended up being removed from office, Fernando Collor (1992) and Dilma Rousseff (2016).

For impeachment to occur, however, it is first necessary to have authorization for the process to be carried out by the President of the Chamber, who is currently an ally of Lula.

Furthermore, history shows that a confluence of external factors is necessary, including the economic crisis, popular pressure on the streets, strong disapproval of the government and the lack of a minimum base of support in Congress — 172 of the 513 deputies are enough to block the opening of the process of impeachment if the process is released by the President of the Chamber, goes through a special committee and goes to the plenary, for example.

Leaders of benches in the National Congress say there is zero chance of the offensive prospering at this moment.

Lula has already had 20 requests for impeachment filed, 18 signed by Bolsonaro supporters, some of them also as a bloc. The first was admitted before the PT member completed a month in government.

A Sheet He has also requested from the Chamber the list of parliamentarians who signed the previous requests, but the information was also withheld. As well as the list of deputies who signed requests during the Bolsonaro government.

Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had 158 requests over the four years he was President.

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THE PATH TO IMPEACHMENT

• The president of the Chamber of Deputies is responsible for analyzing requests for impeachment of the President of the Republic and forwarding them

• The current president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), is an ally of Lula and a former ally of Jair Bolsonaro. He can decide the fate of orders alone and has no deadline to do so

• In cases referred, the merits of the complaint must be analyzed by a special committee and then by the plenary of the Chamber. The votes of at least 342 of the 513 deputies are needed to authorize the Senate to open the process

• Once the process begins by the Senate, the president is removed from office until the trial is concluded and is replaced by the vice president. If he is condemned by at least 54 of the 81 senators, he loses his mandate

• Presidents elected after the country’s redemocratization were the target of impeachment requests. Two were prosecuted and removed: Fernando Collor (1992), who resigned before the Senate’s final decision, and Dilma Rousseff (2016)