Tarcísio will defend tax reform for Bolsonaro – 7/5/2023 – Market

The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), will meet with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) this Thursday morning (6), in an attempt to convince him to review his position against tax reform .

The meeting will take place at the headquarters of the PL, in Brasília.

On Tuesday (4), the party released a note, signed by Bolsonaro, with harsh criticism of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution), signaling that the acronym would guide a vote against the proposal in the Chamber.

The title of the communiqué said that the PT reform is “a real punch in the stomach of the poorest” and accused the government of raising “absurdly” taxes on the basic food basket.

After meeting with the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, this Wednesday morning (5), Tarcísio admitted withdrawing from the main criticism he had been making of the text of the reform.

This inflection was confirmed by the national president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, who went to the Chamber of Deputies this Wednesday afternoon.

“I asked for a conversation with Tarcísio today and I got excited, and I made an appointment to speak tomorrow, at 8am, with Bolsonaro, to see if he convinces the people there. [votar a favor], because we already tried to do it in the Bolsonaro government. If there are some adjustments, he thinks it can be done, it can be played”, said Valdemar.

The president of the PL also stated that, even so, the most Bolsonarist wing tends to vote against. “What do I feel? People on the right will vote against it. And there are people on the center-right who, if Tarcísio convinces Bolsonaro, they would be able to vote in favor.”

In a meeting with Republican parliamentarians this Wednesday (5), the head of the São Paulo Executive said that São Paulo is not against the reform and said that specific adjustments to the text are necessary.

“We are talking about very punctual issues and even, why not say simple ones, of us equating. Perfectly possible to equate from today to tomorrow, from today to Friday. So I see a concrete possibility for us to vote on the reform tax.”

He also stated that this is not a government text, but a state one. “It is not an amendment to the government’s Constitution, it is a State proposal, which was thought out a long time ago. For us, it is moving forward because Parliament is willing to change”, he said.

According to the leader of the party in the Chamber, Altineu Cortes (RJ), a decision by the party will only be taken after the meeting. On the one hand, parliamentarians defend that the PL closes the issue against the proposal, that is, defines the party’s position and guides the bench. On the other hand, they believe that it is possible to release the bench to make a decision.

“Tomorrow, Governor Tarcísio will talk to President Bolsonaro. Governor Tarcísio and Governor Claudio Castro presented several suggestions for changes in the text, so we will wait for these changes so that tomorrow the party can meet and make a decision.”

Altineu said that Bolsonaro is in favor of tax reform, but is against some points. “By changing the entire text, we need to reach this final conclusion, to make a decision.”

The mayor himself, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), said in an interview with GloboNews that Tarcísio was working with Republican and PL parliamentarians to try to circumvent resistance to the text of the PEC.