Sanitation: ministers go to the Senate to try to avoid defeat – 09/05/2023 – Market

Ministers of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) went to the Senate this Tuesday (9) to try to reverse the defeat of the decrees issued by the Executive that amend the Sanitation Legal Framework. Last week, the Chamber of Deputies overturned part of the changes promoted by the government.

The Ministers of the Civil House, Rui Costa (PT), and of the Cities, Jader Filho (MDB), met with senators from the base to defend the changes made by the president. The Minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha (PT), quickly participated in the meeting.

The leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), stated that “there was not enough time” to “overcome differences” in the Chamber of Deputies and avoid the PDL (draft legislative decree) —approved by 295 to 136 votes, in the government’s first significant defeat in Congress.

“I’m not feeling the same mood that was raised in the Chamber. I think that the Chamber’s moment was one. Some things that really weren’t moving at the necessary speed started to move at a more adequate speed and, therefore, I think the environment has already it’s different,” he said.

“But I can’t honestly make a value judgment on any dissatisfaction on the part of the Chamber. And, even if there is a climate of dissatisfaction, I understand that we shouldn’t spill it over such an important matter as the issue of sanitation”, he added.

This Monday (8), the president of the Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), stated that the “trend” is for senators to follow the decision of the Chamber that imposed the first defeat on the Lula government in Congress and approve the PDL .

“This is a law and, although it is legitimate for the Executive Branch to intend to regulate it and issue decrees, the understanding is that these decrees cannot override the law, especially in points that are part of the legislative process of a law, and not of a decree”, he said.

Jaques downplayed Pacheco’s statement and said that he gave “a photograph” of the moment because the government had not yet started to work. The ministers tried to meet with the president of the Senate before the meeting with the leaders, but he was on another agenda.

The leader of the government in Congress, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), said he believed that the government’s base in the Senate, calculated at 42 names, would be enough to reverse the setback in the Chamber.

“We are moving forward, we have an agreement at the base, the meeting was enlightening,” he said. “The leader Ephraim [Filho, líder do União no Senado] did not present an obstacle”, he added, when asked about União Brasil’s position.

As shown to Sheetthe sanitation vote in the Chamber of Deputies exposed a series of parliamentarians from government base parties who voted against Lula’s decrees.

All 48 deputies from União Brasil who were present at the session voted against the government. In the MDB, almost all, 31 out of 32. In the PSD, 20 out of 27.

The leader of the PSD in the Senate, Otto Alencar (BA), said after the meeting with the ministers that the PSD will be with the government. “I defend the decree in full of what the government published. The PSD will defend it”, he declared.

Leader of the parliamentary majority, Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), father of the Minister of Transport, Renan Filho (MDB), said that the MDB is also “on the way” to support the government.

“The government demonstrated, through its ministers, that the decree does not change the law that was approved by Congress, quite the contrary. It is practically a reaffirmation”, said Renan Calheiros.

Planalto is betting on the ministers going to the Senate to maintain Lula’s decrees and argue that the changes expand the investment capacity in the area. A meeting with opposition leaders should be scheduled by early next week.

At the last meeting of leaders, senators demanded the president of the Senate so that the PDL is quickly included in the voting agenda. The assessment is that the decrees cause legal uncertainty for companies, and Congress has already addressed the issue in 2020 by approving the Sanitation Framework.

Two main points in the changes made by the Lula government bothered the Chamber of Deputies. The first extended the deadline for state sanitation companies to present guarantees of technical and financial capacity to carry out investments.

The second allowed the direct provision of services by state-owned companies in metropolitan regions, urban agglomerations or micro-regions (subdivision of the state area).

This point is of interest to Minister Rui Costa because Embasa (Empresa Baiana de Águas e Serviços) is benefiting from the change. The company provides basic sanitation in Salvador (BA) with an expired contract.

The new framework provided for a new bidding process, in which the state-owned company would compete with the private sector to maintain the provision of the service in these cases.