JULIA CHAIB, THIAGO RESENDE AND CAMILA MATTOSO
BRASILIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS)
After the agreement reached for President Lula (PT) to cede two ministries to the PP and Republicans, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), said in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo that the benches of these parties in the House they are now part of the government’s support base.
Lira also stated that Caixa Econômica is in negotiations with the government and acknowledged that political appointments for the bank’s 12 vice-presidencies will go through him.
“There is a rapprochement between centrist parties that were not part of the government’s base for this support. It is clear that, when a party nominates a minister who was leader of a party in the Chamber (the case of André Fufuca, from the PP, who became minister do Esporte), the natural tendency is for this party to become a base of support for the government in the Chamber of Deputies, like Republicans, like other parties”, he said.
Lira stated that the PP in the Chamber became part of Lula’s base, despite the party’s president, Piauí senator Ciro Nogueira, defending opposition to the government.
“We are dealing with the base of support. We are not dealing with other types of (political) projects, for now. It doesn’t mean that (it) cannot move forward, but for now we are talking about political support in Congress.”
However, Lira stated that it is not possible to guarantee that all 49 PP deputies vote in accordance with the interests of Palácio do Planalto. “No (it’s possible), because no party gives all the votes. But I believe in a calm basis.”
With the entry of the PP and Republicans into the first level of government, the president of the Chamber believes that the base of support for the PT member in the House will be between 340 and 350 votes, enough to approve the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution).
“The agreement was broader, it involves other parties, it involves other compositions, there is part of the PL that wants to be part of it and is already voting with the government”, he explained.
Lira denies that the negotiations that took place in recent months are physiologism in nature.
“I have always fought this (coalition presidentialism). But this is the way chosen by the government that was democratically elected. President Lula chose this way of forming his base, bringing the parties to occupy space on the Esplanada dos Ministérios.”
He stated that this political agreement with PP and Republicans has the same foundation as the agreement at the beginning of the government, which gave ministries to PSD, União Brasil and MDB.
“There is no difference between PP, Republicans, PSD, União Brasil, in short, all these parties that were not part of the support base for President Lula’s election. (Some) joined at first and others joined now, in a composition.”
Lira denied that there is noise due to the delay in completing the ministerial reform or criticism from parliamentarians regarding the conduct of the process by Minister Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations).
“I didn’t hear that. In reality, it is not Minister Padilha who gives the ok. He serves as an interlocutor. Time is the government’s time.
That chair is not easy.”
The president of the Chamber made it clear, however, that there is still part of the agreement to be fulfilled.
Lira stated that Caixa will have political appointments and acknowledged that the appointments will go through him. But the idea is to include not only the PP, but more parties from the center, a political group linked to Lira, such as União Brasil, Republicans and even part of the PL.
“There, things have to be treated very transparently and will be treated very clearly. And there will, of course, be political indications that will not be criminalized for this. The group will have responsibility. Exoneration is the first invitation for those who do not behave correctly “, he said.
Another part of the agreement that still needs to be implemented is that the Republicans will take over the positions of Funasa (National Health Foundation), which was recreated by decision of Congress.
Lira said that, starting next year, the model for distributing parliamentary amendments will have to change, returning greater power to Congress in managing these resources and expanding bench or committee amendments.
After the STF (Supreme Federal Court) ended the rapporteur’s amendments, which were used as a bargaining chip in political negotiations during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration, there was an agreement between Lula and the Congress leadership so that part of the money from the extinct amendments would remain in the ministries’ treasury. But with the promise that they would respond to requests from parliamentarians.
This system has not worked, in the opinion of parliamentarians. There were adjustments, according to Lira, and releases began to occur, but it is still necessary to review the model.
“I think we have to evolve, whether with mandatory bench amendments, mandatory committee amendments, or individual ones so that public policy follows what it is intended for. I have always defended parliamentary amendments and will continue to defend them, because no one knows what it is anymore Brazil than the parliamentarian.”
According to Lira, the episode in which Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) said that the Chamber has too much power has been overcome. In the interview, the president of the Chamber did not rule out the possibility of Haddad’s zero deficit plan being supported by deputies. “If we take the measures, yes (it is doable).”
He also stated that he maintains a good relationship with Padilha, despite the setbacks in the government’s political articulation.
In the final stretch of his term as head of the Chamber, the president wants to prioritize green economy projects.
Furthermore, he intends to complete the vote on the Tax Reform PEC as soon as the text leaves the Senate. The forecast for this, according to him, is October. Lira also foresees the approval of the offshore bill, after negotiations with the government that changed some points, such as the issue of exchange rate variation.
“The agreement that was reached with the government, after the non-vote on the provisional measure and the resubmission of the new onshore provisional measure with the new offshore project, is that there will be, in principle, exchange rate taxation and exchange rate variation. There will be a taxation of 15% to 22%, depending on the time the funds are invested. Shorter investment period, more tax, longer, less tax.”
The president of the Chamber also stated that the provisional measure that allows the federal government to tax, from 2024, the increase in profit generated by ICMS tax incentives (state tax) is facing resistance and that he will talk to Haddad about the issue.
“This one is getting a lot of shouting. When there is a lot of shouting, both here in Brasília and in the states and in the productive sectors, they complain that in reality the provisional measure came beyond the decision of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice)”, it says.
“New legislation was created there. And that puts an end to presumptive credits, some incentives up there, especially in the Northeast, very harshly.”
The post Lira says that PP is Lula’s base in the Chamber and that the centrão will have positions in Caixa appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
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