Given the president’s health situation (), negotiations to unlock parliamentary amendments and follow up on the fiscal package will be handled by four ministers: (Institutional Relations), (Treasury), (Civil House) and Jorge Messias ().
Throughout this Tuesday (10), members of the government said that Lula’s emergency surgery and his removal from Brasília do not affect the progress of the Executive’s priority proposals.
According to assistants, Lula did what he could have done by committing to paying for the amendments and asking for an effort to vote on the package, in a meeting with the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the , (PSD- MG).
The meeting took place on Monday afternoon (9) and Lula even left there complaining of a headache and feeling unwell to undergo the examination, which would show the cerebral hemorrhage. The president had to carry out an emergency procedure in São Paulo.
Of the four ministers who must lead the negotiations, Rui Costa stands out, according to reports made to the reporter by members of the government. The head of the company already participates in political coordination meetings with leaders and acts as a bridge, from a technical point of view, with the other ministries involved in cutting expenses.
Parliamentarians hope that the Executive fulfills its part of the promise to advance in discussions on the fiscal package proposals.
At this point, Messias has been at the forefront of creating terms that guarantee legal certainty for the progress of the agreement on the amendments. It also guarantees well-oiled dialogue with the Supreme Court, to prevent friction between the Powers at this time.
On Tuesday night, before the attempt to resume payment of amendments, Messias was at , talking to ministers, according to interlocutors.
Dino’s decisions regarding amendments caused outrage among parliamentarians. And, on Monday (9), the STF minister also rejected an appeal from the AGU that requested changes to the court’s decision on the matter. The determination further intensified congressmen’s dissatisfaction with the federal government, who see a move in favor of the Supreme Court minister to regain control over the Budget.
Lula, in his meeting with the presidents of the Houses on Monday, made a point of saying that it was not his request and that he will pay for the promised amendments.
On another front, Padilha has worked out the final details of the ordinance that will effectively release payment of resources in the shortest possible time. On Monday, a draft was circulated among parliamentarians, who criticized the content of the text.
The final text was agreed at the meeting attended by Lula. The ordinance was signed by Padilha, Haddad, Esther Dweck (Management) and (Planning), and published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union on Tuesday.
Haddad, in turn, will hold a technical discussion with parliamentarians to ensure the maintenance of the measures and seek to defend the proposals, preventing the package from being emptied. He already has good traffic among parliamentarians.
The package includes draft laws and PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) — there is no expectation that its approval will be completed this year. But the government wants to move forward with the proposals this week.
Therefore, government technicians rushed to tie the final details of the agreement around the amendments, and ministers made a point of highlighting that, despite Lula’s situation, the package will continue.
“President Lula’s procedure went through this morning, the fact that he was hospitalized does not prevent this pace, this commitment to voting, the involvement of the entire government in voting, from continuing so that we can conclude the year with these rules of the consolidated fiscal framework, contributing to the economic growth of our country”, Alexandre Padilha told journalists in Brasília.
The president is in the ICU for at least 48 hours, as is customary in this type of situation. On medical advice, he is resting. After that, the palace ministers must organize themselves to go to São Paulo to talk to the head of the Executive. The doctors’ initial expectation is that he will be able to return to Brasília next week.
