Tarcísio ignores attrition with allies and obstacles in Alesp – 05/15/2023 – Politics

The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), and the president of the Legislative Assembly, André do Prado (PL), ignored the articulation problems that the Palácio dos Bandeirantes faces in the Legislative.

At an event by the Esfera group, this Monday (15th), in São Paulo, the head of the Executive and the head of the São Paulo Assembly said there was total harmony between the Powers, despite disputes between Tarcísio and his support base.

Tarcísio claimed to discuss the projects with the deputies even before sending them to the Assembly. This is the case, according to the governor, of the administrative reform that he must propose to the House and of health financing — the government intends to send a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) so that the minimum spending on education goes from 25% to 20% , so that this amount can be allocated to health.

Tarcísio also detailed that the administrative reform should change the state’s organization chart, which out of 120 different positions will have only 18. The governor also said that he will have money to increase police officers and civil servants, wiping down the state machine and selling assets. “Why does the state need to have 56 properties in the center of São Paulo?”, he asked.

The proposed increase for military and civil police alone will cost BRL 2.5 billion this year and BRL 10 billion over the next two years, totaling BRL 12.5 billion.

Despite the speech of alignment between Tarcísio and André, the crisis between the governor and his supporters became explicit after the submission, at the beginning of the month, of this project that provides for a salary increase for the police. There was also, according to the opposition, the government’s difficulty in approving the increase in the minimum wage in São Paulo last week.

The proposal to increase the number of police officers must be submitted to a plenary vote this Wednesday (17), in what will be yet another test for the Tarcísio base.

The deputies of the Assembly were surprised by the text – in addition to the differences in the increases proposed for the various ranks and for the two police officers, there was a forecast for an increase in the discount for retirees that the parliamentarians were unaware of.

The lack of dialogue between the bullet bench and the government ended up becoming a reason for complaints from deputies from the base itself. To assuage the dissatisfaction, there were meetings between the deputies and the governor to settle problems in the text.

Tarcísio left the event without answering questions from the press. André do Prado, in conversation with journalists, downplayed the articulation issues and said that there were no problems approving the increase in the minimum wage. The left-wing opposition, however, points out that there were not enough base deputies for approval, something André said was not true.

For the audience of the lecture, Tarcísio, André and Ricardo Anafe, president of the São Paulo Court of Justice also present at the table, spoke about harmony between the Powers, dialogue and republican spirit in the state.

“We found in São Paulo an environment of relationship between the Powers that is enviable, it has to be copied”, said Tarcísio. The mediator, journalist William Waack, even questioned whether Brasília should follow the model of São Paulo, but the governor did not address the issue.

“We have previously discussed each step. […] The conversation with Parliament is the construction conversation. […] Harmony with the Assembly is built, it is born from discussion”, said Tarcísio. The governor said that he had been talking to parliamentarians for more than a month about the PEC for health funds.

André do Prado stated that “the base is very aligned” with the Tarcísio government, whom he praised as “entrepreneur” and “liberal”. He also said that the Legislature is “aligned with Governor Tarcísio’s agenda”, mentioning concession and privatization projects.

Waack then asked if there wasn’t too much harmony between the Legislative and Bandeirantes. André replied that there was also “tension” and mentioned that there would still be a meeting this Monday between the government and the bullet bench regarding the police project.

According to him, the Assembly is not a “project stamper”. “We improve the projects that the government orders, but we believe that we don’t have to stay, within Alesp, [com] important projects for society, to be stuck there for months”, he added.

Tarcísio and André defended the increase project. The governor said he was taking the first steps towards improving public safety, with a salary increase, an increase in staff and increased monitoring.

“Nobody did what we did in the first year of office. No one else did that courage to mobilize the budget in the first year of office,” said Tarcísio.

He also described actions to resolve the issue of cracolândia. In a failed act, he called the operation impact of the police suffocation operation, name used in the former management, Rodrigo Garcia (PSDB).

André praised the governor for having the courage to send to the Assembly, at the beginning of the government, the project to increase police salaries. According to the president, Tarcísio could have given an excuse to postpone the proposal, for example, conditioning it to the evaluation of the economic scenario.

The project, he said, is a “recognition of salaries according to the patent, but doing justice to these professionals who are at the top and do not have a salary according to responsibility”. “The government is having the courage to send this at the beginning of the government. […] Public safety is a priority,” he added.

At the event aimed at businessmen, Tarcísio also defended his privatization proposals. “The myth that the tariff will go up is false, the tariff will go down,” he said of Sabesp.

Even with the problems of lines 8 and 9, granted by CPTM to ViaMobilidade, Tarcísio defended the model and said that the best solution is to keep them in the private sector. “Mobilizing capital is up to the private sector,” he said.