The Palácio do Planalto is preparing for this Thursday (8) a solemn announcement of the president’s (PT) veto on the reduction of sentences for those convicted of coup acts, including (PL).
As anticipated SheetLula decided, on the three-year anniversary of the attacks on the headquarters of Power, to give a symbolic character and visibility to the measure. The deadline for the veto is January 12, 15 days after Congress forwards the text to the government.
After the US attack on Venezuela, the agenda of the event defending democracy could be expanded to respect the sovereignty of the people.
Under the supervision of the head of Secom (Communication Secretariat of the Presidency), Sidônio Palmeira, the Presidency is preparing the ceremony, which will be broadcast on a big screen, in front of the Palácio do Planalto.
Outside, activists should remain focused on an act in defense of democracy and with the motto “no amnesty for coup plotters”.
The Brasil Popular and Povo Sem Medo fronts, political parties and trade unions are among the organizers of the demonstration. The secretary general of the Presidency, Guilherme Boulos, participates in the mobilization.
The expectation is that Lula will walk down the ramp to meet the protesters at the end of the afternoon. According to the schedule, the veto should be signed on the same day. The president is expected to discuss the content of the veto with his assistants on Tuesday (6), when he is expected to return from Marambaia (RJ), where he spent New Year’s Eve.
At the end of last year, Lula anticipated his willingness to veto the proposal. In a coffee with journalists on December 18, he stated that this is the right of the President of the Republic, in the same way that Congress has the prerogative to override the veto.
“When it arrives at my table, I will veto it,” said Lula. “I have been saying for some time that the people who committed crimes against Brazilian democracy will have to pay for the acts committed against this country. The trial has not even ended, there are still people being convicted, and people are already deciding to reduce the sentences.”
The following day, the text was forwarded to the Presidency by Congress, after . At the end of the year, the president’s allies were divided over the advisability of signing the veto on January 8th. There were those who argued that Lula should do so in December.
However, the argument prevailed that the presidential act could be overshadowed during the end of year festivities. Even today, among the president’s allies, there are those who recommend leaving the veto until Friday (9).
In favor of this date, they argue that signing on the 8th could embarrass congressmen and scare away their participation in the act in defense of democracy. For now, Lula maintains his intention to veto the proposal on Thursday (8), according to his allies.
In the Senate, the so-called PL da Dosimetria, as it was nicknamed, had support from central parties, including parties with a presence in the first echelon of the Lula government. The score was 48 votes in favor and 25 against.
The Chamber with a score of 291 votes in favor and 148 against, the project went to presidential sanction.
If it comes into force, the text could reduce the time that Bolsonaro will spend in the closed compliance regime from the current 6 to 8 years to something between and , depending on the interpretation, which will be up to the STF (Supreme Federal Court). .
Before Lula openly took a stance on the veto, aides recommended caution to the president, suggesting that he wait for formal statements from the Supreme Court.
The coordination of the Dosimetry PL had, behind the scenes, the approval of court ministers. On the eve of the approval, at the end of the trial session of yet another group of defendants in the coup plot, however, the minister criticized the discussion in Congress of the project that allows for the reduction of sentences.
“It is no longer possible to speak about mitigating sentences, in sentences applied after due legal process, applied after ample possibility of defense, because this would be a message to society that Brazil tolerates or will tolerate new flirtations against democracy,” he said.
