The Board of Directors of the House of Representatives prepares a package of changes in the regiment of the house. Proposals seek, among other points, to accelerate the processing of projects and give more power to party leaders in the indication of committees. The studied changes are part of the new legislative rhythm defended by President Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB).
The resolution project written by the table with the new rules has not yet been officially filed, but has already been presented to the College of Leaders and is negotiating. The text has the signature of Motta and other members of the table: Altineu Côrtes (PL-RJ), Elmar Nascimento (União-BA), Carlos Veras (PT-PE), Lula da Fonte (PP-PE), Delegate Katarina (PSD-se) and Sergio Souza (MDB-PR).
Party leaders have already received the draft text, which should still be changed after suggestions from deputies. The discussion of the proposal is expected to resume after the Carnival holiday, at a meeting scheduled for March 13. Once officially presented, the project will still need to be voted in the plenary.
One of the changes in the text is the extinction of the elections for presidents of thematic committees. The choices would be made directly by the party leader who has the right to command each collegiate, according to the political agreement between the benches. The leader would also have the power to appoint the vice-presidents of the commission.
As CNN It showed, the measure gives more power to the heads of benches, that they could also dismiss and exchange the president of the board throughout the year if the party deems necessary.
Currently, the choice of presidents is made by election. Nevertheless, there is rarely dispute between more than one candidate, as the names are previously made by political agreement between the benches. The deputy chosen for the post occupies the position throughout the year.
In the draft proposal, to which the CNN It had access, the justification mentions that the change “seeks to strengthen political parties in the context of the operation of the house”. The menu states that the changes aim to “give greater relevance to the decisions taken by the College of Leaders, value the work of the commissions and optimize the regimental text”.
The proposal under discussion also imposes a deadline for a project with urgent regime to be voted in the plenary. The urgency accelerates the processing and guarantees the vote directly in the plenary. From the suggestion prepared by the table, the materials with an urgent approved will have to be voted within 180 days (six months).
According to the text, when the eventual change in the regiment is approved, the propositions that are already being processed will be processed under the previous regime if not considered until the end of the legislature, ie by the end of 2026.
There is a consensus among leaders that the analysis of proposals in the house must be accelerated, but changes in regiment that are under discussion are not unanimous. “Change in regiment has to always look very carefully because it determines the democracy of the house a lot,” said PSOL leader, Deputy Talíria Petrone (RJ).
The end of the commissions election stage is one of the biggest differences among leaders. Members of the governing bench are friendly to the idea, while opposition deputies are critical and see that the initiative generates insecurity for committees.
Other changes
The project also formalizes the practice that is currently occurring by nomination, by the presidency of the house, of the presidents of temporary committees.
The draft also proposes a change in the installation of special committees to analyze projects of topics related to various commissions. By regiment, the special collegiate replaces the processing in the other committees. The news is the reduction from five to four in the number of related committees required to make the way for the creation of a special committee.
On another front, also to accelerate the analysis in the commissions, the text ends the need to read, discuss and vote on the minutes of the previous meeting of the collegiate. This stage is even used by deputies as a strategy for obstruction of the agenda.
To postpone votes from certain matters, parliamentarians may, for example, request the full reading of the minutes. If the change in regiment is approved, the minutes will be published on the House website before the meeting’s starting start.
Also with the intention of giving faster proceedings of proposals in the house, another possibility under discussion – which is not yet in the draft presented to the leaders – is the limitation of the committees designated to analyze a proposal. By negotiating idea, the projects would be analyzed in only one commission, in addition to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ).
