The government leader in Congress, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (PT-AP), stated that the possible vote on the amnesty bill will be a “mistake” that Congress will commit if it is put on the agenda. For him, the proposal is a “hasty confession of guilt”, as it is being discussed even before the trial of the alleged coup attempt involving allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The proposal was removed from the agenda of the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) at the end of October, by President Arthur Lira (PP-AL), with the allegation that it had been politicized by the negotiations for the election of the new command of the house next year. He ordered the creation of a special commission to analyze the text, but there is still no deadline.
“I don’t believe that parliament will want to commit, allow me that term, this ‘mischief’. In other words, voting for an amnesty even before the trial has been concluded”, said Randolfe in an interview with GloboNews this Friday morning (8).
According to him, the discussion of an amnesty only occurs after the judgment of a certain case, and that the investigation involving Bolsonaro or those involved in the acts of January 8, 2023, has not even been completed.
“And are they already talking about amnesty in Congress? It seems to me a hasty confession of guilt, and amnesty before the trial takes place is per se [em si mesmo] unconstitutional”, he pointed out.
Last week, Arthur Lira promised to move forward with the proposal during his term as president of the Chamber until February 2025. According to him, the creation of the commission aims to ensure a deeper analysis of the project.
The proposal places the PL – owner of the largest bench in the Chamber – and the PT – owned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – on opposite sides. Lira, however, stated that she will resolve the issue “by talking and listening a lot”.
The opposition remains, however, only on this proposal. This is because both parties entered into the same alliance to support the succession of the presidencies of the two houses of Congress, in favor of Hugo Mota (Republicanos-PB) in the Chamber and Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP) in the Senate. The coalition, however, was criticized by deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), who said he felt betrayed by the union and that “you can’t ignore the electorate”.
Lira also denied that he had made any specific agreement related to the merits of the project. “I did not have this discussion with either the STF or the parties”, he stated, reinforcing that the commission will have a period of up to 40 sessions to examine the proposal and that the processing will follow “normal and regimented procedure”.
The decision to establish the commission was received with different interpretations in political circles. Arthur Lira, however, denied that the approval of the project had any relationship with the PL’s support for Hugo Motta and said that there was no agreement on this point.
“What I have is that it wouldn’t be. With me he said it wouldn’t be”, he added.
