This Monday, it has been ten years since Eduardo Cunha opened the parliamentary amendments. Since then, year after year, the National Congress has expanded its dominance over the public budget, even controlling.
In a report published this week, the Sheet It recovers, which has been profoundly altering the balance of powers and the structure of responsibilities in Brazilian democracy.
By coincidence-or irony of destination-, it approved on Tuesday (19) a project that allows the rescue of amendments canceled at the end of last year for the lack of transparency.
The decision came shortly after the approval last week of a resolution prepared by the Board of Directors of the House and, which, allowing them to be signed only by party leaders.
The movement confirms the ones, which already pointed to the fragility of Complementary Law 210, approved last year after pressure from civil society and the Supreme Court.
Under the general rule, public hiring need to undergo competition and bidding processes, ensuring the principles of legality, impersonality and efficiency.
Even in emergency hires, public managers must justify their decisions and answer for them in case of deviations or failures. Subverting this logic, the National Congress uses public resources without presenting projects, work plans or any effective accountability.
Although leaders argue that the goal is to strengthen the call, Congress creates the paradoxical figure of the politician who does not want the public to know their deeds.
This escape from the spotlight is no coincidence: as reported by SheetBackstage talk about the existence of more to investigate deviations. Last week, the first class of the court on charges of passive corruption, denounced for receiving bribes in exchange for the disposal of parliamentary amendments.
In the current scenario, congressmen need to present little or no justification to burden the public coffers, using gaps in the legislation and leniency of parliamentary inspection bodies.
The absurdity reaches the point of parliamentarians to directly choose the suppliers to be hired without bidding, such as alert Élida Graziane, professor of the FGV-SP Public Administration course.
If congressmen have left the role of inspectors in the background and became direct budget executors, it is time to treat them as responsible for these transfers. Graziane argues that “it is necessary to equate the parliamentarian to the expenses authorizing the purposes of accountability and liability.”
The budget cannot be a territory without owner. If congressmen want the power to spend, they should also assume the duty to explain. There are no bonuses without burden: those who decide how to spend should answer for the destination of each penny.
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