A and the president of the House, (-PB), refuse to inform whether or not (-SP) is prevented from participating in remote sessions of the Legislature.
At risk of losing his mandate due to absences, the parliamentarian, who has been with us since March, states that he is unable to register his presence or vote through an application, even in non-face-to-face sessions, and accuses the Chamber of preventing his remote access.
When questioned by the report, the press offices of the Chamber and Motta did not answer whether Eduardo’s access was blocked and for what reason.
the son of the former president (PL) has been missing virtual sessions even after sending, in August, a letter to Motta in which . The deputy, denounced by the Attorney General’s Office on charges of coercion, claims that his stay abroad is forced and is due to political persecution.
In the USA, the deputy is leading a campaign so that the American president, , determines punishments for Brazilian authorities, in addition to having articulated tariffs against Brazilian products, with the aim of freeing his father, , from prison.
Since his leave ended on July 20, Eduardo has accumulated 37 absences in 51 sessions, which is equivalent to more than two thirds of absences. The limit authorized for a parliamentarian to maintain his mandate is one third, according to the Constitution. Considering the number of sessions that must take place before the recess in December, it would no longer be possible for the deputy to fulfill this requirement.
“Since the beginning of August, I have been absent from the Chamber. Even in virtual votes, which I could participate in […]. I’m trying to resolve it with him [Motta]but apparently my presences aren’t counting, I don’t know why”, said Eduardo in September, in an interview with the website Poder 360.
“Even deputies who are in Brazil didn’t have to go to the Chamber, in certain sessions, to register their presence. If they didn’t need to physically go to Congress, why would I? […] I am awaiting the response to my letter, sent to President Hugo Motta. But it’s very strange that I can’t vote via cell phone,” he added.
Last month, Motta blocked a PL maneuver to circumvent Eduardo’s fouls. The deputy, since leaders do not need to justify their absences from the plenary, but the designation was not accepted by the president of the House.
An opinion from the Secretary General of the Board, dated September 22, used to support Motta’s decision, states that remote registration of parliamentarians abroad is authorized in the case of official missions.
The report highlights that the Chamber’s regulations oblige deputies who leave the country to inform the House about their trip, whether official or private — even though this is not fully followed in practice.
“The absence of prior communication about the departure from national territory, as occurs in the case under analysis, constitutes, in itself, a violation of the parliamentarian’s functional duty. More than that, this omission prevents the absence from the House from being classified in any hypothesis of exceptionality that
authorize remote attendance registration”, says the opinion on Eduardo’s situation.
Generally on Thursdays and exceptionally on other days of the week, the Chamber authorizes deputies to register their presence and vote through a cell phone application, with two-step verification. The practice was adopted during and has continued ever since.
Since July 20, the House has had 34 in-person sessions and another 16 remotely. Eduardo appears as absent in all of them.
The Chamber also allows a deputy to declare his vote in writing after the votes, either to record his position or because he was unable to vote during the session, although this does not change the result of the deliberation and does not exempt the parliamentarian from being absent.
Eduardo used this resource only once, to vote yes to the urgent request for the amnesty project for those convicted of coup actions, which was .
On other topics discussed by the plenary, Eduardo did not make a point of recording his position. During the period, the Chamber approved the increase in the number of families served by the social energy tariff and projects in the areas of public security and education, for example, for those earning up to R$5,000.
After the process that could lead to Eduardo’s impeachment, the requirement to be present at sessions became the main way for the deputy to lose his mandate.
On Thursday (23), the leader of , (RJ), presented an appeal, signed by more than 80 deputies, so that the filing by the council can be taken to a vote in the plenary, where it could eventually be reversed, but there is no deadline or requirement for this to be voted on.
Losing his mandate due to absences does not make Eduardo ineligible, unlike revocation for other reasons, such as due to proceedings before the Ethics Council.
As shown by Sheet. Punishment is only possible from March 2026, when the Chamber counts the absences from the previous year.
Eduardo by the (Attorney General’s Office) on charges of appealing to the Trump administration to coerce Brazilian authorities into burying the case against Bolsonaro by .
