Sanitation: Congress threatens new setback for Lula – 05/12/2023 – Market

Even after suffering a defeat in the Chamber, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) must insist on changes in the Sanitation Framework and is now studying editing an MP (provisional measure) to implement the new rules.

Despite this, deputies indicate that Lula may suffer a new setback if the plan goes ahead, as they see the attempt as a way to implement the changes without negotiating with Congress first.

MPs have the immediate force of law, but need to be approved by parliament within four months to remain valid.

The initial plan, according to members of the Civil House, is to insist on the changes through support in the Senate. The House could still reverse the defeat suffered by the government in the Chamber, which approved a proposal to overturn part of Lula’s decrees. The assessment of government supporters and members of the political articulation, however, is that the chances of success are low.

According to Lula’s interlocutors, the Civil House, which prepared the proposal, is adamant that it will not give up on the alterations. Changes to the framework, sanctioned in July 2020 by former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), are one of Rui Costa’s priorities.

Despite this, from the beginning there was divergence in the government’s hard core. Costa was warned that modifying the proposal —which so recently passed the scrutiny of parliamentarians—could generate noise in Congress, but he still insisted and sent the decree.

According to allied parliamentarians, the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), started to put together an agreement for the government to withdraw the decree and send a bill with constitutional urgency – which, if not voted on in 45 days, would begin to block the agenda of the plenary of the Chamber.

If that happened, Lira would not guide the projects to stop the Executive’s decree. However, the government would have failed to comply with the agreement and this irritated the parliamentarians. On the last 3rd, the Chamber imposed a significant defeat on the Executive, by approving the text that overturned the changes made. The Senate still needs to vote on the bill, but it has already signaled that it should uphold the House’s decision.

Now, members of the government are studying the best way to save the text: by editing an MP or a bill.

Rapporteur of the text approved in the Chamber, the leader of Cidadania, Alex Manente (SP), says that, if the government sends an MP, it will be debated.

“But I think the government had its time to do this work and it didn’t. The Chamber has to start a process to update the Sanitation Framework, independent of the government. If the government sends a provisional measure, we will do it through it. If not, I think that the Chamber has to take this initiative.”

Under reservation, other party leaders indicate that, if the option is for the MP, the Planalto could intensify the friction with Congress, which, eventually, could let the text lose its validity without being voted on.

In the case of sending a bill, the text would also be subject to changes, but the effectiveness would not be immediate, which would give more time for negotiation. The assessment of palace assistants is that there would be more chances of prospering, although not identical to the original.

The leader of an important Senate bench claims that the MP would repeat the problem that led to the defeat in the Chamber.

The options are studied in the face of the possibility of defeat in the Senate. Government members assess that the scenario in the Legislative House is different in relation to the matter, because they are closer to states. Even so, they believe it is unlikely that the decree will survive the plenary.

Part of the government, however, still has the hope of preventing the defeat in the Senate.

In parallel with the Civil House studies, the government continues to work with senators, with the expectation of reducing difficulties. The Minister of Cities, Jader Filho (MDB), and the Civil House met with government and opposition leaders in two separate meetings to hear the complaints of parliamentarians.

Additionally, Jader is expected to go to the Senate twice next week to address the issue in committee meetings. One will deal with all the portfolio’s actions, but the other will specifically address changes to the Sanitation Framework.

During the first meeting, the government held a large presentation to justify that the content of the decree was only about regulation and not legislation. That view, however, is contested by lawmakers — even allies.

The leaders who met with government representatives also appealed for the text to be sent back to Congress in the form of a bill. However, they claim that there was no signaling in this regard during the meeting.

The government supporters are betting that the audiences with Minister Jader Filho would be enough to secure some votes. The leaders closest to the Planalto also warned the government to stop insisting on the issue without much articulation, under the risk of repeating the defeat that occurred in the Chamber.

An intermediate scenario evaluated by the Civil House, if the government fails to avoid overthrowing the Senate, is that of a new project presented by a congressman.

In this case, the government would not be the sponsor of the project and would try to negotiate with the House for the inclusion of points of interest.