Senate decides to resume commissions that remove power from Lira – 02/08/2023 – Politics

The Senate decided to resume the analysis of MPs (provisional measures) in mixed commissions, formed by federal deputies and senators. In practice, the return of the committees takes away power from the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL).

The MPs’ rite was a reason for complaint in the Senate and ended up becoming a campaign commitment of the President of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), re-elected last week.

The formation of joint committees was suspended in March 2020 amid reduced activity in Congress to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Since then, the MPs were being voted directly in the plenary of both Houses.

As the text that reaches the Legislative passes first through the Chamber of Deputies, the end of the commissions ended up increasing Lira’s influence in the choice of rapporteurs and the voting date.

The decision of the Board of Directors of the Senate generates internal disagreements. Some parliamentarians point out that the president of the Senate accumulates the presidency of Congress and, therefore, could sign the act alone; others say that approval from the Chamber is needed.

Federal deputies with positions on the Board of Directors claim that the situation of MPs is still being discussed. The assessment of technicians, however, is that Congress should resume the old process because the formation of joint commissions is provided for in the Constitution.

Lira reacted to the Senate’s decision in this Wednesday’s session (8). When asked by Deputy Mendonça Filho (União Brasil-PE) about the position of the Chamber, he stated that the two Houses will still meet to define “if” and “when” there will be a change.

“The act that regulates the return or not of the rite of provisional measures is a joint act of the Board of Directors of the Chamber and the Senate, and not just of the Senate. There is no act of the Board of the Senate. This was conveyed by the press in a very rushed, without due care in the procedure”, he said.

“The Board of Directors of the Chamber and the Board of Directors of the Senate will meet and decide together if and when there will be a change in the sponsorship of the form of voting on provisional measures. as a whole of the National Congress”, he added.

The initial text of the act drawn up by the Senate, to which the Sheet had access, it only had Pacheco’s authorization. The draft of the second version, which has been public since Tuesday (7), provides for the signature of the entire Board of Directors of the Senate and the Chamber.

The assessment of senators from the base of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is that the return to the traditional process of analyzing measures can be even more laborious for the government, but it increases the negotiation margin in the “retail” —individually with the parliamentarians, since the rapporteurship of the texts and the presidency of the committees are defined by a rotation between deputies and senators.

The government, they say, is also able to control the order in which MPs are sent. Thus, if the scenario is more favorable in the Senate, for example, it is possible to edit the provisional measure when the rapporteurship is in charge of a senator.

Despite pressure from the Senate, federal deputies at the base are divided over the benefits for the government. Petistas point out that the formation of the joint committee is counterproductive and that it may be easier to negotiate the text only with the rapporteur of the Chamber, where the main changes are currently carried out.

That is, however, the main complaint in the Senate. As Congress has up to 120 days to approve an MP, senators claim that deputies consume almost all of their time and leave no room for the Senate to also modify the text, under the risk of burying the measure.

First Secretary of the Senate, Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE) said this Tuesday that the return of the joint committees “greatly improves the functioning of the House”. The Board of Directors’ assessment, according to him, is that Congress should return to working on the same schedule as before the pandemic.

“We [Senado] he is not caught by surprise in relation to what was prepared in the Chamber, having to vote, without time, only with the discussion of what had been done in the Chamber. It greatly improves the functioning of the House and we return to normality”, said the senator.

In a defeat for the government, the draft of the act that determines the return of the joint commissions also reopens the deadline for the presentation of amendments. This way, senators and federal deputies will have another six days to suggest changes in the seven MPs edited by Lula.

One of the main apprehensions of the government is with the MP that establishes the casting vote in the Carf (Administrative Council of Tax Appeals), an administrative court that judges tax conflicts between taxpayers and the Federal Revenue Service.

Another concern is with the MP that created and reorganized the ministries. To try to keep the text, Lula’s allies have defended that the president should have the right to define the structure of the Esplanada dos Ministérios without interference from Congress.

“Someone will say ‘Oh, I think there is too much ministry, I think there is too little ministry’. But I think the tendency is to approve, even because there is an elected government and it organizes itself in the way it understands best”, I told Sheet the leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA).

Provisional measures are edited by the President of the Republic and come into effect immediately, but depend on congressional approval in order not to lose validity. Thus, the House and Senate have up to 60 days, extendable for an equal period, to validate or reverse the government’s initiative.

Collaborated with Cézar Feitoza, from Brasilia