Pressure from Bandeirantes, amendments and suspense from allies mark Tarcísio’s victory at Sabesp – 12/07/2023 – Market

Considered a top priority for the Tarcísio de Freitas (Republican) government, the privatization of Sabesp (São Paulo State Sanitation Company) saw intense coordination from Palácio dos Bandeirantes, suspense among deputies until the final stretch and accusations of promises of million-dollar amendments.

In the opinion of parliamentarians interviewed by the report, this was what helped guarantee the overwhelming victory of the project, approved with 62 votes, far above the most optimistic expectations of the deputies, who doubted the governor’s strength.

“At first, I said we would have 60, but then I lowered the count to 55”, says deputy Barros Munhoz (PSDB), project rapporteur.

Other parliamentarians estimated between 50 and 55 votes, and members of the government itself had last week reduced expectations to 50, just 2 more than necessary in the case of a full plenary. Alesp has 94 deputies.

There were uncertainties about the vote of members of the government base, such as União Brasil, Podemos and PSDB, who complained about a lack of coordination with the House.

Rafael Saraiva (União Brasil), for example, stated that the government “is late with its agreements, in default in its relationship with the Legislature”, and had not decided on privatization until the day before, but in the end decided to vote with the government.

“I defend life, and we need to accelerate the universalization of sanitation to save lives, we cannot delay a day,” he said.

The main leader of União Brasil in São Paulo is the president of the São Paulo City Council, councilor Milton Leite, who has publicly complained about the lack of discussion about privatization and wants guarantees that the capital will benefit from the sale.

For Munhoz, “in a 45-day process, it is more than normal for there to be discussions and uncertainty about the membership of deputies.”

“The governor actively participated, spoke to people who were in doubt, secretary Natália Resende [Meio Ambiente] The process was extraordinary and things matured.”

For the opposition, however, what really convinced the deputies was the release of funds. “More than an ideological issue, it was an economic issue in this case,” said Paulo Fiorilo (PT).

When contacted, the secretary of the Civil House, Arthur Lima, did not respond.

Left-wing parliamentarians said in the plenary that there was a promise of R$20 million in amendments and payments for nominations as a bargaining chip to garner votes for privatization — the base deputies denied this.

The release of funds from the palace to deputies saw a significant jump three days after the government sent the project, on October 17, when the Tarcísio administration paid R$73.6 million in nominations for parliamentarians —including from the left—, which represents almost two-thirds of all funds released for nominations this year.

This value only includes the release of resources already completed, but the parties also add millions of other funds in progress.

Deputies from União Brasil, who voted unanimously in favor of Tarcísio’s project, already have R$12.7 million in amendments selected for transfer and another R$34.6 million in the document registration and work plan phase (which is a step ahead of the preliminary analysis, but it still does not mean that the amount will be released).

The PSDB has R$1.9 million in payments for indications already selected for transfer and another R$36.3 million in document registration. Podemos, out of a total of R$1.5 million in progress, has R$500,000 in the most advanced phase of release.

A single deputy from the left bloc voted in favor of the project. It was Valdomiro Lopes (PSB), whose nominations, all of them in the document registration phase, total R$3.7 million.

The opposition, however, says it does not believe that the significant result at the end of the vote came only as a result of a new promise. The reading is that the deputies who said they were in doubt, in fact, would be acting “soft” — a kind of suspense — in an attempt to gain some additional benefit from the government, but would vote for privatization anyway.

There was clear dissatisfaction from the Bolsonarist bloc with what they claim was Tarcísio’s lack of attention to right-wing agendas, especially those regarding customs, according to parliamentarians’ assessment.

This group, made up of names such as Gil Diniz, Lucas Bove and Major Mecca (all from PL), provoked the audience against privatization during the project discussions, which generated confusion and blocked the progress of the agenda.

Deputies from center-right parties, who preferred not to go to the podium to speed up the process, read the provocations as a message to the Tarcísio government.

As the opposition did not vote on the project, stating that it was not possible to return to the plenary session filled with tear gas after the confusion between the PM and protesters, the proposal could have been approved unanimously, were it not for a single defection from a Bolsonarist parliamentarian.

Delegate Graciela (PL), who voted no, was elected by Franca (SP) and stated that she wanted to “align with what the majority of the population thinks” of the city, considered a model of sanitation, she said, highlighting that she will remain on the basis of Tarcisio.