Lula government fears retaliation from the STF after approval of PEC – 11/24/2023 – Power

The government of President Lula (PT) was taken by surprise with the vote of its leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), in favor of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) which limits monocratic decisions of the STF (Supreme Federal Court ). The text was approved by senators on Wednesday (22) and goes to the Chamber.

Members of Planalto and Esplanada classified Wagner’s decision as negative and fear that there will be retaliation from court ministers in important actions for the government in court.

A few hours after the vote, magistrates were already expressing their discontent with the approval of the proposal and what they understood to be a lack of support from the Planalto Palace to the government.

For STF ministers, Wagner’s gesture was decisive for the text to be approved, as the matter was endorsed with just three votes to spare. The assessment is that, in addition to his own vote, the senator contributed to more parliamentarians taking a position in favor of the text.

The government leader in the Senate released the government bench so that colleagues could vote as they wished. Planalto acted to keep its distance from the discussion, under the argument that the issue does not fall within the government’s jurisdiction, thus trying not to upset the Senate or the STF.

Government organizers are now betting on the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to block the PEC and make the dust settle on the matter.

Wagner’s position, however, generated reactions from several sides. By being in favor, the leader acted against the grain of his own party, the PT, which directed a vote to overturn the proposal. The party’s president, Gleisi Hoffmann (PT-PR), said that Wagner’s vote was a mistake.

The government’s main concern today is with economic issues in the Supreme Court. There was an expectation that the president of the court, Luís Roberto Barroso, would briefly discuss court orders.

Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) even met with Barroso before the vote to ask for the action to be on the agenda in November.

At the end of September, the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) asked the STF to overturn the limit for court orders established under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government and proposed the payment of part of the court sentences as a financial expense, without compromising tax rules.

The government’s objective is to pave the way for Haddad’s strategy of “de-pedaling” precatório before 2027, when the end of the ceiling for paying these debts could detonate a fiscal bomb exceeding R$250 billion, in figures updated by the government.

This Friday, in São Paulo, Haddad was asked about the clash between the STF and the Senate and said that “they are responsible people, people with a long tradition in public life and who know that we cannot waste time”.

“So we do a Salaam Aleikum there and solve the problem quickly to continue moving forward.”

The signals from members of the court after the approval of the PEC were not positive for the government. They have demonstrated that they are in no rush to follow through on important proposals for the Executive.

A magistrate heard by the Sheet denied that the PEC case interferes with the judgment on the merits of court orders. In court, however, there is an assessment that the deadline may be affected.

Another topic of interest to the government is the criteria for correcting the FGTS (Service Time Guarantee Fund) balance. So far, three ministers, including Barroso, have voted in favor of remuneration for savings.

The government is seeking an agreement with the STF, claiming that this formula would result in additional spending of R$8.6 billion per year.

Savings currently yield 6.073% per year, while FGTS is corrected at 3% per year plus TR (Reference Rate). The government’s offer would be to update the values ​​by 3% plus TR (Referential Rate), plus the distribution of the result.

Government members believe that the government leader may have made a wrong calculation, supporting the proposal to get closer to the opposition and, above all, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) and, as a result, , manage to approve government proposals in the house, especially economic ones.

However, Wagner said it was a personal decision.

“I clarify that my vote on the PEC that restricts monocratic decisions by the STF was strictly personal, the result of an agreement that removed from the text any possibility of interpretation of possible intervention by the Legislature”, declared the senator, on social media.

The same argument was given in a connection between Wagner and Lula, according to reports.

Before the proposal that limits the powers of Supreme Court ministers goes to plenary, the government leader even spoke with ministers Rui Costa (Civil House) and Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations).

He told them that he was trying to build an agreement so that the PEC included both Congress and the Supreme Court.

For the proposal to be approved, two provisions that irritated the STF were removed — even so, the text displeased the court due to its symbolism and the fear that this would be the first of several attacks.

“I am proud to have participated in a movement to minimize or reduce differences that could be uncomfortable or mistakenly interpreted as interference by the Legislature in the higher court,” said Wagner during the session.

The government leader in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), and the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro (PSD), voted against — the latter left his position in the Executive and resumed his mandate temporarily, which is why he was able to participate.