In a nod to Congress, the AGU (Attorney General’s Office) is expected to appeal to the (Supreme Federal Court) this Tuesday (3) to ask for explanations about what released payment for parliamentary amendments and imposed new rules.
The matter was discussed on Monday (2) in a meeting between the president () and the ministers (Institutional Relations), (Finance) and Rui Costa (Civil House), in addition to the three government leaders.
According to reports, the president was warned that Dino’s decision fell like a bucket of cold water on Congress and sparked a climate of retaliation. The Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, participated in part of the meeting.
The AGU may even ask the Supreme Court minister to reconsider some points of Monday’s decision — which would pave the way for a middle ground between the new demands and the .
To calm things down, a palace emissary also informed parliamentarians that the government is working to release R$7.8 billion in amendments, of which around R$3.2 billion in “Pix” amendments.
The federal government is trying to manage the crisis in light of what was announced by the Ministry of Finance, if the money blocked by the Supreme Court is not paid.
Parliamentarians complain, for example, about the changes made by Dino in the “Pix” amendments (a type of individual amendment that fell directly into city halls’ cash without any indication of how the money should be used) and in the health amendments.
In the case of the “Pix” amendments already indicated, the minister demanded the presentation of a work plan on the use of the money within 60 days. Health amendments must be indicated, by decision, with prior approval by the bipartite and tripartite commissions of the SUS.
A leader interviewed on condition of anonymity states that congressmen discussed the possibility of asking a STF minister to stop the trial (through a request for review) or even present a different vote (so that Dino’s decision could be reconsidered).
To the surprise of parliamentarians, he says, the minister’s decision was made in full less than two hours after the opening of the virtual plenary session. The trial began at 6pm this Monday and will end at 11:59pm this Tuesday.
Party leaders hoped that the Supreme Court’s virtual plenary would decide to impose stricter rules for paying for amendments only from now on, releasing without bureaucracy the approximately R$17.5 billion that has been blocked since August.
A parliamentarian interviewed privately says that, by demanding new transparency measures, the STF in practice ignored one from the Republic a week earlier.
The leader of the government in , Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), stated this Tuesday that the situation will be resolved because “everyone has sense”. The senator also made a point of saying that Palácio do Planalto complied with the agreement made with Congress.
“There was an agreement, the president made it, signed the agreement. The agreement reflected those agreed between all the Powers, government, the House and there [STF]. By the time he got there [Supremo]he fixed the change and put another gear, which was also not there. We are halfway there. It will work out, everyone has sense. Everyone did what was right, but the agreement obliges everyone to sit down and get there.”
Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), president of the ruralist caucus and influential opponent of the government, stated that the fiscal policy proposed by the government makes the productive sector pay the bill for the budget deficit, which needs to be reviewed. And he said that the Judiciary’s stance hinders the progress of the Legislative’s work.
“I cannot see any peace of mind within the Chamber and the Senate with this rush of decisions, and especially with this interference by the Judiciary within the actions of the Legislature”, he stated.
The likely future president of the Chamber from 2025 onwards, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), asked that the Judiciary unblock the amendments to flow the functioning of Congress, and that the prerogatives of each of the Houses need to be respected.
“On the issue of amendments, an agreement was reached between the Powers, where the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches were represented, and Parliament wants this agreement to be fulfilled”, he stated.
“We are not giving up on negotiating these terms, we want compliance with the Constitution and that the Legislative power can be respected”, he added.
Faced with dissatisfaction, parliamentarians threaten not to vote on the preliminary report of the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law). To contain the damage, Padilha and the government leader in Congress, senator Randolfe Rodrigues (PT-AP), met with the president of the CMO (Mixed Budget Committee), federal deputy Julio Arcoverde (PP-PI), this Tuesday.
“It’s obvious that there was some discomfort about this, since yesterday [segunda]but the government has a position on this issue. The government’s position is to defend the complementary law to the STF that was approved by this Parliament and sanctioned without vetoes by the President of the Republic”, said Randolfe.
