The deputy (Solidariedade-SP), who was the rapporteur of the bill to reduce sentences for those convicted of coup plotting, accuses the president (PT) of “tearing up the flag of peace” and preferring confrontation over vetoing the proposal.
Lula vetoed the project that would benefit (PL) and other Bolsonarists this Thursday (8), during a ceremony that marks three years since January 8, 2023, when the headquarters of the three Powers were vandalized by supporters of the former president.
In a video released online, Paulinho also says that he will work in Congress to “overturn Lula’s veto and bring pacification to Brazil.” The rapporteur argues that the project, approved in the Chamber last December, was built with dialogue and responsibility.
“Congress handed Brazil’s white flag of peace into Lula’s hands. Do you know what he did? He tore it up and set it on fire. […] He went to the already pacified land and poured gasoline. He preferred confrontation to dialogue. […] He ignored Congress”, says the deputy.
Despite having declared support for Lula in 2022, Paulinho distanced himself from the president and became a critic of the government.
In the video, Paulinho also links the approval of the reduction of sentences to the suspension, by the United States, of part of the sanctions applied to Brazil. The American embassy in Brazil issued a statement of support when the project was approved.
The deputy states that the proposal signaled to the world that the country was seeking peace and maturity. “Now, in a world gripped by conflict, Lula chose to give the planet a dangerous message: that Brazil does not want peace, it wants confrontation.”
The sentence reduction project was supported by the centrão, the biggest force in Congress, and the (Supreme Federal Court), but it contradicted Bolsonarism, which sought amnesty for those convicted of coup plotting, and the left, which opposed any benefit.
“Dosimetry is not amnesty, it does not erase crimes, it is proportional justice”, says Paulinho.
The leadership of the federal government assesses that, if Congress overturns the veto, the text will be a subject of dispute in the STF.
Assessment by Planalto’s legal area is that the proposal is unconstitutional. The action to block the project after a possible rejection of the veto, however, would not need to come from the Executive. The most likely, in the current scenario, would be for a party or congressman allied with Lula to sue the court.
The Legislature has the right to reject Executive vetoes and force approved projects to come into force if there is a favorable vote from more than half of the deputies and senators.
In the Chamber, . The loose score indicates that the majority of deputies should be against Lula’s veto. No, . Even with a smaller difference in votes, the assessment in the House is that there must also be enough support to reject the presidential veto.
Bolsonaro was, together with allies who received minor punishments, in the process over the coup plot that culminated in the .
