Parliamentarians interviewed by the Jovem Pan website claim that the president will have to rely on the ‘good will’ of Congress to move forward with agendas, such as tax reform; Chiefs estimate that Planalto has about 180 votes in the Chamber
After the first 60 days of the president’s third term Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT), the current government faces the first raids while still skating to establish support in the National Congress and build a solid base that guarantees the necessary votes in fundamental debates. Last week, the main stumbling block for Lula was the controversial case involving the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho (União Brasil-MA), and the allegations of alleged misuse of the services of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) and per diem paid from the public budget. Lula gave Juscelino life and prevented the first fall of a member of the first echelon, in yet another episode of the troubled relationship between the government and the Union Brazil. Previously, the president had already faced the denunciation of an alleged relationship between Minister Daniela Carneiro (União Brasil-RJ) with the militia and the embarrassment generated by the manifesto of parliamentarians of the acronym that was born from the merger between Democrats and PSL, who declared that there will be no “ subservience” to the Executive. Far from representing just an exception, these quarrels and dissatisfactions of parties – especially the Centrão – with the Planalto Palace gain greater proportions and reach critical points. Parliamentarians heard by the website of Young pan claim that the Executive’s position with the choice of ministers bothers members of other parties, such as the progressivesacronym of Arthur Lira (PP-AL), President of the Chamber of Deputies.
Without ministries or top-ranking positions, party names are less contemplated, which may reflect on low adherence to government proposals and jeopardize the processing of agendas considered essential, such as the tax reform. “Congress already had the good will to support the Transition PEC, which guaranteed Bolsa Família. Now, from there to here, this nod of ministers bothers. The deputies are not satisfied, there is dissatisfaction. Lula will have to make a one-on-one effort to form a majority,” said an ally of Lira to the report. The assessment is that the Executive has not yet given what they call “necessary signaling” to the subtitles, which results in the difficulty of building a solid base in the National Congress. The assessment is endorsed by federal deputy José Nelto (PP-GO), a supporter of Lira. “No one is behind the government to ask for anything. But the tax reform is very difficult for the government to approve. The reform they want will not pass. It will be necessary to articulate a lot, and Lula has to be aware of this”, summarizes the congressman from Goiás.
The Lula government’s difficulties in consolidating a base in Parliament were publicly signaled by Arthur Lira at the beginning of the week, in an episode considered a warning to the government. President of the Chamber elected with the highest number of votes in the history of the Legislature since redemocratization, Lira said that, currently, the Executive has no basis even for approving texts with a simple majority, much less to advance in matters that require a constitutional quorum. For the approval of a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC), such as a tax reform, favorable votes from 308 deputies and 49 senators are required. “We will have some time for the government to stabilize itself internally, because today the government still does not have a consistent base either in the Chamber or in the Senate to face matters of simple majority, let alone matters of constitutional quorum”, pondered the deputy. In an interview with Jornal da Manhã, from Jovem Pan News, the national president of Solidariedade and former federal deputy Paulinho da Força made a similar calculation: “It is a delicate process. I joke with some friends that the government had 140 votes, distributed 39 ministries and ended up with 180. That’s the calculation we do here today. The government officially has no more than 180 votes in the Chamber of Deputies. Perhaps in the Senate there will be a little more leeway, but in the Chamber the government has difficulties. It is a negotiation process that the government has been doing”. “When it has a complicated agenda, in my calculations, the government will lose some important votes in Congress in the coming weeks. The government has made some provisional measures that are controversial. These controversial provisional measures will have difficulties”, amended the party leader. In other words, União Brasil’s public note in defense of Juscelino, the dissatisfaction exposed behind the scenes by Centrão leaders and Lira’s explicit warning send a clear message to Planalto: the approval of matters, at this moment, depends on the goodwill of the Congress.
