It is not possible to play with the economy, says Pacheco even with dissatisfaction

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), says that the senators are aware of the need to vote and approve some of the main economic agendas until the end of the year that are being processed in the house, such as tax reform, support of the fiscal framework and the budget law, but this will not be done without due critical debate.

According to the parliamentarian, there is a “mission” to vote on these projects in November and December, but that any dissatisfaction of senators with the government should not “contaminate” the votes.

“Eventual and occasional dissatisfactions do not contaminate the general feeling that the economy cannot be played with. It is necessary to have the strength of our economy with the approval of proposals and projects that are sustainable. This goes far beyond any dissatisfaction among parliamentarians with the government,” he said in an interview with Economic value published this Monday (30).

Rodrigo Pacheco explained that dissatisfaction between the Legislative and Executive branches has always existed, but that the economic agenda will not be affected. For the senator, there is a notion among parliamentarians that there is a “need to contain inflation, reduce interest rates, increase Brazil’s GDP growth, increase our reserves, our trade balance”.

In addition to the dissatisfactions between congressmen and the government, Pacheco sees that there is also a difficult relationship between the Senate and the Chamber – “this has always existed” – but ruled out a power struggle. At the beginning of the year, Pacheco and Arthur Lira (PP-AL) fought a dispute that delayed the progress of important economic agendas in Congress, and the Palácio do Planalto has worked hard to accommodate deputy nominees for public positions.

“What happened in the formation of the government was a criterion made by the federal government, by President Lula, in relation to the political parties that make up its base. These parties, in turn, chose names, representatives to occupy the spaces, sometimes senators, sometimes deputies. There was no type of preference from the Senate to the detriment of the Chamber or vice versa”, he stated, denying that the rejection of Lula’s appointment to the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) was due to the government’s lack of coordination specifically with the Senate, while the Chamber saw deputies and nominees gaining government positions.

Despite noting the existence of dissatisfaction among parliamentarians with the government, Pacheco denies that there is a problem in the president’s relationship with the Senate. He states that there is a “good quality” in the work of leaders such as Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and Randolfe Rodrigues (no party-AP), and that “so far, the government has had good victories in Parliament, especially in Senate”.

“What we cannot confuse is that this good relationship with the government means the isolation of the opposition”, he added.