Lula government evaluates decree to save social program – 05/28/2023 – Power

With difficulties in political articulation, the Lula government (PT) runs the risk this week of seeing the expiration of the validity of the structure of its ministries designed in the transition and a proposal in the social area, one of the priorities for the president.

The MP (provisional measure) that guarantees payments of an extra 50% in the Auxílio Gás program needs to be voted on by Thursday (1st), but the project has not advanced any stage since it was presented, on January 2nd, to the Congress.

Without the guarantee that the text will go through the entire process and be approved in a short time by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, members of the government are already working on a solution that does not depend on Congress. The idea is for Lula to include the program’s additional rules in a decree.

The government is already facing decisive votes this week for the future of the portfolios of Marina Silva (Environment) and Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples). The center wants to take power from them and strengthen other ministers of the Esplanade.

In a meeting on Friday (26), President Lula (PT) told the ministers that he will need to seek alternatives to revert environmental dismantling, admitting that he has no power in Congress. One solution is to use ordinances or decrees to reduce portfolio losses.

These measures in absentia of Congress, however, can generate attrition with parliamentarians, mainly from the centrão.

In the case of emptying the Marina area, the greatest difficulty is political, in the opinion of government organizers, as Planalto has not yet formed a solid base and finds in Congress a group of approximately 300 deputies linked to agribusiness issues.

As for the risk of interrupting payments to Auxílio Gás, there was a nap on the part of the government’s political wing, according to Lula’s allies. There is a forecast for payment of an additional 50% of the value of a cylinder now in June, but, for that, the proposal needs to be converted into law.

Lula’s assistants managed to place these devices of extra value in the program in the MP of the Bolsa Família, but there is no forecast for this text to be approved and, later, sanctioned.

When contacted, the Ministry of Social Development said that, in order to prevent 5.7 million families from having the value of the Gas Aid reduced, the folder will try to save the MP this week and, if it is not possible, “the administrative procedures for publishing the decree are still in progress”.

The government’s main dispute this week in Congress should be over the MP that restructures the Esplanada dos Ministérios. Leaders representing the majority of parliamentarians support the version of the text that dehydrates Marina and Sônia’s portfolios.

The government’s strategy is to intensify negotiations with the center to reverse these actions. But some of Lula’s allies admit that the chances of this succeeding are low, given that the relationship with the ruralist caucus is troubled and this group could even overturn a possible president’s veto.

Lula’s ministers have rejected the idea of ​​appealing to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) to try to maintain the ministerial structure defined by the government in January.

But this is not consensus. The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, defends the possibility of suing the court.

“My technical opinion is that these exacerbations should be pruned and even lawsuits, but that is a later debate”, said Dino in an interview with TV 247 this weekend.

After turbulent days for the Planalto Palace, in particular in view of the advance of the text that removes Marina’s powers, the president was advised to react. In addition to the meeting with Marina and Sônia, on Friday the president opened the doors of the Palácio da Alvorada for a barbecue at night, similar to what was seen in Lula 1 and Lula 2.

Participants said that the fraternization oscillated between moments of relaxation between ministers and comments on the political situation.

The meeting brought together approximately 30 people at the president’s residence – some ministers brought family members. STF ministers Gilmar Mendes and Alexandre de Moraes, in addition to retired minister Ricardo Lewandowski, were there.

Marina did not attend, but was the subject of talks between ministers and the president. According to members of the government, Lula’s conversation with Marina and Sônia lowered the temperature and showed that the government has the ability to react to avoid damage to the environmental agenda, despite pressure, mainly from the ruralist group in the Chamber.

At the end of the meeting, Lula, according to allies, said that he intends to go back to having barbecues and meetings more frequently. One of the objectives is to increase agendas with allies and names from all sectors of society.

This, in the opinion of ministers, will also convey the image of a more united and integrated government.

This week, there are also five other MPs that lose validity, in addition to the two main ones (Auxílio Gás and changes in the Esplanade).

The government should let all expire after negotiations with Congress. The provisions on fuel taxation and dealing with the exclusion of ICMS from the calculation basis of PIS/Pasep and Cofins contribution credits have already been incorporated into another provisional measure that passed through Congress. Therefore, they do not need to be voted again.

In the case of the MP that transfers the Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) to the Ministry of Finance, the government has already given in. Congress wants to keep the body at the Central Bank and, therefore, the Planalto Palace gave up the initial idea.

The MP with rules for the proclamation of the results of judgments of the Carf (Administrative Council of Tax Appeals), which judges billionaire disputes between companies and the Union on the payment of taxes, should also expire. Congress rejected the text as a provisional measure, and the government sent a bill – which needs the approval of parliamentarians to be valid.

In addition, the MP extinguishing Funasa will expire. In agreement with the rapporteur for the restructuring of the Esplanada, a device was put in place for the government to declare the end of the body by act of the Executive, as a decree or ordinance.