Lula: No deputy is obliged to vote with the government – 05/12/2023 – Power

After suffering defeats in recent votes in the National Congress, President Lula (PT) stated that no parliamentarian is obliged to vote with the government and indicated that he will negotiate with the parliamentarians project by project.

The statements were given this Friday (12) in Fortaleza, where the president participated in the launch of the provisional measure establishing the Full Time Schools program.

“No deputy is obliged to vote for what the government wants, the way the government wants it. The deputy may think differently, may want to make an amendment, may want to change an article, and we have to understand that this is part of the democratic game “, he stated.

Lula avoided dimensioning his base in Congress and, when asked about the subject, said that his base is the 513 deputies and 81 senators: “They will be tested in each vote. In each vote you have to talk to all the deputies”.

Still according to the president, in the current format of the Constitution, it is the Executive Power that needs the National Congress, and not the other way around. He recalled that the PT has only 69 deputies and defended the construction of a civilized relationship with deputies and senators.

“I have to talk to everyone, I don’t have to ask which party he is. […] I have to talk to those who like me and those who don’t,” said the president.

After the defeats in votes in Congress, Palácio do Planalto started on Wednesday (11) its first meetings with the base parties after consecutive defeats in Congress.

At the same time that there was a demand from the Planalto, there was also a commitment to the release of amendments and positions in the government.

The announcement was made during the president’s visit to Ceará, where he participated in the launch event of the Full Time Schools program and the National Pact for the Resumption of School Works. With Lula were the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana (PT) and the Governor of Ceará, Elmano de Freitas (PT).
The event was held in the morning at the Centro de Eventos do Ceará, in Fortaleza.

Teachers and trade unionists took advantage of the presence of Lula and the Minister of Education to protest with demands for the sector. The group exhibited signs that asked for respect for the education wage floor, more money for the sector and the repeal of the new secondary education.

The event was attended by students and teachers from the state and municipal education network, together with leaders of union centers and social movements.

Among them was a group of militants from the MST (Movement of Landless Rural Workers), who this Thursday (11) did not participate in an act with Lula in Salvador. The entity argued that it was barred from the act by the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa (PT), who denies the veto.

From the capital of Ceará, Lula goes to the city of Crato, in the Cariri region of Ceará, where he launches the National Pact for the Resumption of Works in Basic Education program, for the resumption of four thousand works paralyzed in the previous administration. The works, in kindergartens and schools in the public education network, will be financed by the FNDE (National Fund for the Development of Education).

Full-time teaching is one of the main goals of the administration of Minister Camilo Santana, who was governor of Ceará between January 2015 and April 2022. The state is considered an example in basic education, with results above the national average.

In Ceará, the full-time school program should reach more than 70% of the state school network this year, according to data from the State Government. In all, there will be 472 schools with an extended day of nine hours distributed in 165 municipalities.