Governor of São Paulo participated this Tuesday in a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies that deals with the proposal
The governor of São Paulo, (Republicans), criticized this Tuesday (2/12) the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) for Public Security sent by the Lula government to Congress. Tarcísio participated in a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies alongside the governor of Goiás, (União Brasil).
According to the head of the São Paulo Executive, the PEC is an “affront” to the autonomy of the states and state governments cannot accept being “fatally wounded” by the Union. “Brazilians have public security as the main problem. And, this problem has been faced in states governed by the right,” said Tarcísio. “We realized right away that the PEC was cosmetic, that it would not solve the problems.”
He classified the changes in articles 21, 23, 24 and 144 of the Constitution under the argument of strengthening the National Police Coordination as “excessive centralization” of security and highlighted that the text only attempts to transform into a constitutional amendment what is already provided for in the law of the Unified Public Security System (SUSP).
For the governor, this movement is an admission that the current legislation “did not catch on” and failed, and that, “as often happens in Brazil”, an attempt is made to escalate an ineffective norm to the constitutional level in an attempt to make it work, which, in his assessment, does not make sense.
Tarcísio also highlighted that the Union’s financial contribution to public security is “very small” and that, in the case of municipalities, the situation is similar. The governor stated that city halls ended up taking on several responsibilities over the years without receiving the necessary sources of financing, which left them “strangled”.
The head of the São Paulo Executive told deputies that clear criteria for apportioning funds need to be established, warning that the constitutionalization of these tools could end up conditioning the transfers to the Union’s unilateral definitions. He argued that states must have flexibility to execute their own policies and warned that, without well-defined rules on the distribution of powers, there will be overlapping duties and operational conflicts.
According to the governor, any model must take into account the size of the mission and the specific demands of each state, at the risk of hampering local action. In this sense, he defended the discussion on toughening sentences. “Suppression of political rights for prisoners would be an excellent path”, he stated.
Among the measures suggested, Tarcísio mentioned reducing the age of criminal responsibility and extending the period of detention for certain crimes committed by minors. He also said that stricter penalties for attacks against security agents are necessary and that it is essential that perpetrators of serious crimes serve their sentences in full, without benefits that reduce the time spent in prison.
The governor also said that it is necessary to resume the debate on prison after conviction in the second instance, arguing that the measure is fundamental to strengthening the effectiveness of the criminal system and reducing the feeling of impunity in the country.
Both Tarcísio and Caiado were summoned by the proposal’s rapporteur (União Brasil-PE) for the public hearing.
‘PT guidelines demonize the military police in the country’
Caiado also criticized and directly attacked the president’s government and the PT, suggesting collusion with criminal factions. “PT guidelines demonize the Military Police in the country,” he said.
Also according to the governor of Goiás, the PEC is a “gift to criminal factions”. “The PT’s complacency and connivance with criminal factions is something very clear, very clear, very identified,” said Caiado. “This makes it easier for factions to work in Brazil, increasingly expand their actions and face a very large rearguard from the federal government.”
Caiado stated that the general guideline defined by the federal government causes its policy to prevail over those of the states, something that, according to him, has already been determined by the (Supreme Federal Court). Therefore, he refuted the justification that the text would not interfere with the police or take away prerogatives from governors, classifying this reading as false.
For the head of the Goiás Executive, the proposal, in practice, serves to frame the states and prevent them from exercising the competing right to legislate in the area. “In Goiás, my police officers don’t wear cameras on their uniforms. That’s it, it’s over. It’s the governor’s decision. I’m the governor”, he continued. “Who is going to determine about me, if the policy is mine in my state of Goiás and I have the concurrent right?”
Caiado praised rapporteur Mendonça Filho by saying that it was “what the right-wing governors were waiting for”, but stated that the PEC still needs to face central challenges, including preventing Congress from being emptied by decisions of the National Council of Justice (CNJ). The governor appealed to deputies not to allow CNJ resolutions to override the competing prerogatives of the states.
The governor criticized the fact that the Council issues more than 50 rules even when the Legislature does not legislate on the subject, which, according to him, calls into question the role of governors and the States themselves.
The governor also cited the Allegation of Noncompliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 347, the so-called “fair penalty”, stating that the action attempts to apply the same regulatory logic used in the SUS (Unified Health System) to public security, which, in practice, would allow people not to be arrested due to lack of vacancies. He said that the federal government invests “zero” in state systems and that resources for penitentiaries have been cut. For Caiado, it is up to Congress to guarantee governors the rights provided for in the Constitution and prevent the CNJ from subjugating state powers.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
