Understand the fight between Lira and Pacheco over the processing of MPs – 03/25/2023 – Politics

The crisis between the presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), escalated in recent days with the “immediate” installation of joint committees for MPs (provisional measures).

The impasse involves a dribble in the Constitution —since the joint commissions are in the constitutional text— amid a dispute between senators and deputies for influence in the processing of MPs.

Despite being an internal matter for the Legislature, the impasse has been blocking the agenda of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government in Congress for more than 50 days. One of the MPs awaiting approval is the one that restructured and created ministries, such as that of Indigenous Peoples and Cities.

Another text awaited by the government is the one that establishes the casting vote in CARF (Administrative Council of Financial Resources). In addition, essential programs for the Planalto Palace, such as Minha Casa, Minha Vida, were also recreated via a provisional measure.

After weeks without an agreement, the tone of the clash rose on Thursday (23). On the one hand, Pacheco accepted a question of order proposed by Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), Lira’s public disaffection, and decided to resume the rite of joint committees, which is in the Constitution.

Lira responded by stating that the matter of order “will not go a millimeter” in the Chamber of Deputies and that “the biggest interested in the validity of the MPs” is the Senate because “they who appointed ministers, they who have ministries”.

In an attempt to soften the statements given by Lira, the presidency of the House released a note on the same day, signed by its press office, signaling an attempt at dialogue with the Senate.

On Friday (24), there was a new attack by Lira against Pacheco. In a letter, the president of the Chamber said that there is a lack of coherence by Pacheco in the treatment of MPs edited by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and by Lula and asked for a joint session of Congress to resolve the issue.

Shortly afterwards, there was a meeting with Lula at the Alvorada Palace to address the issue.

Understand the origin of the crisis and what the Constitution says

What the Constitution says

Paragraph 9 of article 62 of the Constitution determines that “it will be incumbent upon the joint commission of deputies and senators to examine the provisional measures and issue an opinion on them, before they are analyzed, in a separate session, by the plenary of each of the Houses of the National Congress”.

In paragraph 8 of the same article, the text provides that the MPs will have their “voting initiated in the Chamber of Deputies”.

The rite entered the Constitution in 2001 after the approval of a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) on the subject. Previously, article 62 did not define specific rules for processing provisional measures.

How mixed commissions for MPs work

The mixed commission is made up of 12 federal deputies and 12 senators defined by the leaders. If this is not done, the president of Congress (in this case, Pacheco) can designate the leaders and vice-leaders themselves to compose the commission.

The number can reach 13 parliamentarians from each House because the regiment says that parties with small benches —which are not entitled to participate by calculating proportionality— can take turns and be part of the mixed commissions (not just that of MPs).

Deputies and senators take turns reporting and chairing the group. Thus, when a deputy is the MP’s rapporteur, a senator must be the chairman of the committee. The position is reversed in the next provisional measure.

The collegiate conducts discussions, suggests amendments to the government’s proposal and approves the report. After that, the text goes to the plenary of the Chamber on an urgent basis and, subsequently, to the plenary of the Senate.

If approved by both Houses, the proposal is taken for presidential assent and the government’s decision becomes law. If the MP is rejected or Congress allows the 120-day period for approval to expire, it loses its validity.

How was it in the pandemic

On March 31, 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the Board of Directors of the Chamber and the Senate signed a joint act. The norm provided that, “during the duration of the Public Health Emergency and the state of public calamity resulting from Covid-19”, the mixed commissions that analyze the MPs would not be installed.

“The provisional measures will be instructed before the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, being exceptionally authorized the issuance of an opinion in replacement of the Mixed Commission by a parliamentarian from each of the Houses designated in the regimental form”, says the text.

The act also said that the Chamber should complete the analysis of the MPs by the ninth day of validity of the provisional measure. The deadline for the Senate would be until the fourteenth day.

How the impasse between Pacheco and Lira began

The impasse between Pacheco and Lira began after the Senate Board of Directors — formed by the president and six other senators— decided on February 7 to resume the constitutional rite for the analysis of MPs.

The president of the Senate accumulates the presidency of Congress and could determine the return of joint committees alone. The initial text of the act drawn up by the Senate, to which the Sheet had access, it only had Pacheco’s authorization.

In order not to generate unease with the federal deputies, however, the senator decided to ask for the signature of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Deputies and jointly define the best date for the installation of the joint commissions.

Lira refused to sign the document and did not hide her irritation. In a Chamber session the following day, the deputy stated that the two Houses would still meet to define “if” and “when” there would be a change.

Senators’ Complaint

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 modify the text, at the risk of burying the measure.

Without the joint committees, the Senate also ceases to participate in the initial discussions – when the parliamentarian negotiates with the government most of the changes. The current format gives even more power to the mayor, who is responsible for designating MP rapporteurs and deciding when the text will be voted on.

MPs’ complaints

The leaders of the Chamber claim that the joint commissions did not respect the proportionality of the Houses, since they had equal numbers of senators and deputies. They also point out that it was difficult to reach the minimum quorum for the votes, which ended up being postponed.

A calculation made by deputies to support the argument that the joint committees are unfeasible highlights that the existence of 15 MPs would require the participation of 180 senators —which is impossible, since there are only 81 senators, who would need to accumulate seats in the joint committees.

What does Lyra want?

Initially, Lira proposed an agreement with Senate interlocutors to end the joint committees and intersperse the beginning of the processing of MPs: one would start with the Chamber and the next, with the Senate.

House leaders repudiated the proposal. They argued that, constitutionally, the right to initiate the discussion of provisional measures belongs to the Chamber and ceding the prerogative to the Senate would be an emptying of the powers of the deputies.

Faced with this scenario, Lira changed her mind and started to defend the maintenance of the rite that was imposed during the pandemic. He claims that this new model has speeded up the legislative process.

Deputies affirm, with reserve, that there are possible agreements for the solution of the impasse. One of the proposals would be to establish specific deadlines for the House and Senate to return MPs; another provides for the maintenance of joint commissions, but with fewer seats for senators than for deputies.

What does Pacheco want?

The MPs’ rite is a reason for complaint in the Senate and ended up becoming Pacheco’s campaign commitment. The president argues that, with the advancement of vaccination, Congress should fully function again, under the same conditions as before the pandemic.

During the negotiations, Senate leaders agreed to end the joint committees and vote the MPs directly in the plenary of both Houses, as long as they alternate. They argued that they would thus be able to initiate discussions —a prerogative that today is exclusive to federal deputies— and give the final word on the text. Proposals were written during the week, but the idea was buried by Lira.

Lula government performance

Such as Sheet showed, the impasse was discussed at dinner on the last 10th between Lula and Lira. PT allies claim that this is an issue that must be resolved between the two presidents of the Houses and argue that the government’s action should be cautious — so as not to generate noise with any of the congressmen.

Last week, the government proposed to the Senate that the joint committees resume on April 6, without success. The leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), said this Thursday that, “personally”, he is in favor of the joint commissions. The leader of the Chamber, José Guimarães (PT-CE), however, has defended that the pandemic rite be maintained.

This Friday, there was a new meeting between Lira and Lula to deal with the crisis between the Chamber and the Senate.