Planalto wants to make a loophole in the State-owned Law subject to the opinion of the ethics committee – 03/09/2023 – Panel

The government of President Luiz Inácio da Silva (PT) prepared a draft with a mid-term proposal for the quarantine provided for in the State-Owned Companies Law, under discussion in the National Congress.

Current legislation stipulates a period of 36 months for nominating anyone who has participated in the decision-making structure of a political party or has worked in the organization, structuring and execution of an electoral campaign to directors or boards of directors.

According to the draft, to which the Panel had access, the prohibition remains at 36 months, but only if the participation has not been of an intellectual nature, which already makes the rule more flexible.

In addition, it exempts from quarantine those who, cumulatively, have not had accounts rejected either in the Electoral Court or in control bodies and obtain a favorable opinion from the Public Ethics Commission of the Executive Branch, attesting to the absence of a conflict of interests.

The draft was drawn up due to the assessment that the bill being discussed in Congress makes the rule too flexible and would have difficulty in being approved. The project voted by the House reduces the quarantine to 30 days and failed to advance in the Senate. The idea is that a parliamentarian from the base presents the suggestions as a form of amendment to the text already under discussion.

“The now amended requirements do not ensure the selection of candidates who are more suitable for the management functions of state-owned companies, as some maintain. On the contrary, it prevents, for example, that a professional with more experience and knowledge of the specificities of state activities, such as a Minister or Secretary of State is summarily banned from contributing to the board of directors of a state-owned company”, says the justification attached to the text.

For the government, the current rule does not prevent wrongdoing and stifle the administration. With the amendment, it is intended that the assessment ceases to be just formal and becomes material.

Another change foreseen in the draft is the end of the limitation for reappointing members of the fiscal and management boards of companies to two terms. According to the justification attached to the proposal, the change would make state-owned companies equal to publicly traded companies, since the Corporate Law does not impose this limitation.

One of the government’s allies suspended by this rule is former Pernambuco governor Paulo Câmara. At the end of January, he received the signal that he would be appointed to the Banco do Nordeste and asked for the disaffiliation of the PSB, the party of which he was vice-president, in view of the prospect of approval of the project in Congress.

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