Government tries to postpone voting on the timeframe in the Chamber – 05/30/2023 – Daily life

The Lula government (PT) is trying to postpone the vote on the bill for the time frame in the Chamber of Deputies, scheduled for this Tuesday (30).

The tendency is for the proposal to be approved if it goes to the analysis of the parliamentarians, which would represent yet another defeat for the government in the environmental area. The urgency to the landmark project was approved last week by 324 votes against 131, out of 257 needed.

“[Sobre o] Timeframe, we are working to not go to the agenda. If it is, we will forward the vote no”, said the leader of the government in the Chamber, José Guimarães (PT-CE).

Lira warned the government that the time frame is the first item on the plenary agenda, whose session is scheduled to start in the evening. The project is considered a priority by the FPA (Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária), which brings together 300 deputies and is one of the strongest forces in the Chamber

“We’re talking to him [o presidente da Câmara, Arthur Lira (PP-AL)]with the Supreme Court and with the House to see if we build an agreement [para] that this was not on the agenda. That’s still pending,” she said.

“O [Jorge] Messiah [Advogado Geral da União] is working, the ideal is not to vote on the matter. The matter is sensitive, it divides the Chamber, it is the first item on the agenda. We will seek an agreement to seek a negotiated solution,” said Guimarães.

Despite having mentioned the AGU (Advocacy General of the Union), the ideal for a wing of the government is to build an agreement with Lira without having to go to court.

As shown to Sheet, the bill for the timeframe advanced in the Chamber as a strategy by the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to anticipate the judgment of the STF (Federal Supreme Court) on this topic. The court scheduled the judgment on the subject for June and may reject the creation of the timeframe.

The text of the proposal institutes the thesis according to which indigenous lands should be restricted to the area occupied by the peoples on the date of enactment of the Federal Constitution of 1988. This is the idea defended by the deputies of the ruralist group.

The indigenous people reject this argument and claim that, according to the Constitution, they are entitled to their original territories.

The bill also creates devices that make the exploration of natural resources and undertaking projects within indigenous lands more flexible.

Environmentalists and the indigenous movement criticize the project and see loopholes to allow mining, agricultural activity, opening of highways, power transmission lines or installation of hydroelectric plants, in addition to contracts with the private and non-indigenous initiative for undertakings.

The discussion about voting on the timeframe takes place on the same day that the government tries to approve the provisional measure that restructures Esplanada dos Ministérios.

Centrão party leaders resist approving the MP and threaten the government with the risk of it losing its validity. If that happened, the structure of the government would revert to that of the previous ministry, that of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), which would represent a major defeat for Lula.

Therefore, the main objective of the government on the day is to approve the provisional measure.

“The priority for the government is to vote on MP 1154, the report that came out of the joint commission, we already talked here today, the opinion is that we are all going to vote in favor of the report that was approved in the joint commission, because this is central for the government to approve this provisional measure, to be voted on tomorrow in the Senate”, said the leader of the government in the Chamber.

The provisional measure report withdraws from the Ministry of the Environment the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) and the ANA (National Water Agency), in addition to a series of systems, which was considered the dehydration of important functions of the ministry. Likewise, the recognition and demarcation of indigenous lands, currently in the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, go to the Ministry of Justice.

According to Guimarães, the government will analyze the presentation of highlights, but the priority is to get the proposal approved. Behind the scenes, the government knows that if it tries to change the report, it could suffer an even bigger defeat in Congress, so it will at least try to keep the text approved last week.

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Understand the time frame

The thesis
The time frame determines that the demarcation of indigenous territories must respect the area occupied by the peoples in the promulgation of the Federal Constitution, in October 1988.

The critic
Indigenous movements disagree with the thesis and claim that, in 1988, their territories had already been targets of centuries of violence and destruction of villages; therefore, they understand that the lands that are the right of the peoples should not be demarcated by a date.

the stf
The Supreme ruled for June 7 the resumption of the trial that will decide whether the thesis is valid or not. So far, minister and rapporteur Edson Fachin has voted against the milestone. Minister Kassio Nunes Marques, in favour.

The law project
At the same time, a bill establishing the timeframe is being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies. The President of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), tries to approve the text before the STF judgment.