government may lose votes if it supports the return of joint committees in Congress

In yet another chapter of the impasse between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate over the return of the joint committees to vote on provisional measures sent by the government, President Arthur Lira (PP-AL) said that he has the support of the Planalto itself to maintain the current rite of analysis of the projects.

In a statement at the end of the morning of this Thursday (23), Lira criticized the request filed by Senate leaders for the resumption of the analysis of the MPs by both houses, and said that if the government meets the request of Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) for the return of the joint committees, it runs the risk of seeing the proposals overthrown in the plenary of the Chamber.

“I want to make it clear [que] I received an express request from the federal government to maintain the current rite. If the government prefers mixed commissions, great, patience. It will bear the burden of negotiating the joint committees with 24, 36, 48 members, and risk that the provisional measures fall on the plenary of the Chamber and on the plenary of the Senate”, he fired shortly after a meeting he had with leaders of the house.

According to him, the Senate would have changed the text sent to the Chamber on the rite of provisional measures, which led him to ask for a meeting with the collegiate of leaders – who, he says, also did not agree with the return of the rite adopted until the beginning. of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“He proposed a text, changed the understanding. And now comes the truculence unilaterally wanting to install mixed commissions that are anti-democratic, fruitless and a stage for negotiating matters that have always brought doubts and fog to the provisional measures, ”he said.

While Lira spoke to the press about the impasse, Rodrigo Pacheco met with party leaders in the Senate to decide how the provisional measures would proceed while the presidents do not reach an agreement. Shortly afterwards, the senator said he would send the House 13 remaining proposals from the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for analysis.

“Yesterday [quarta, 22] I determined that the previous government’s provisional measures should be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies, including the possibility that they might be appreciated in the exceptional rite of the steering committee. The House must vote on these measures and the Senate also by the deadline. In relation to the provisional measures of the Lula government [Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, PT] already with this understanding of the Senate regarding the need to reestablish the constitutional order, we also intend that the two houses can vote”.

Pacheco also said that the “issue of order raised by Senator Renan [Calheiros, MDB-AL]we will decide on a fundamental basis in today’s session [quinta, 23]”, in reference to the request made by the senator for the immediate return of the functioning of the committees for the prior analysis of the MPs, filed on Wednesday (22).

Last week, Lira stated that the joint commissions are “anti-democratic” with the plenary sessions of both houses, and that they impose a disproportionality in the participation of deputies and senators. According to him, the Chamber is “under-represented” in the formed, with 513 deputies represented by only 12, while the Senate is “over-represented” with 81 parliamentarians also represented by 12.

Lira says that Pacheco wants to change the competences of the two houses

Also during the speech, Lira reinforced that all the projects needed by the government are starting to be processed in the Chamber of Deputies in accordance with what governs the Constitution, and that the Senate would be wanting to take these attributions for itself.

“The Chamber is the initiator of bills, PECs [propostas de emenda à Constituição]MPs [medidas provisórias]supplementary bill, PLNs [Projetos de Lei do Congresso], everything that the federal government conditionally orders begins in the Chamber. And the Senate is simply reviewer (sic), and it doesn’t want to be, it wants to have a leading role, ”he said.

Lira also stated that if the Senate divides other attributions that they have, such as appointments of ministers of the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice, of regulatory agencies, of embassies, “we think of dividing attribution”.

The mayor also said that he has the support of the leaders of the house and that the house’s agenda, next week, will be from Monday (27) to Thursday (30) to analyze provisional measures of interest to the government. According to Lira, the Senate has 29 stalled proposals without moving forward.

“What we defend is not to go against the Constitution, but, in a proposal of understanding of the two houses, to change the Constitution to arrive at a more current rite and that meets the demands of the two operating houses. We do not want to affront the Constitution and much less declare war on the Senate and neither the Senate on the House, this will lead nowhere. I wasn’t the one who interrupted conversations or left conversations, and I didn’t send texts and go back on my word,” he said.

According to Lira, the Senate has interrupted talks with the Chamber since the election of the board of directors, in early February, and only resumed this week to discuss the change in the rite of procedure of the MPs.