Centrão parties at the head of ministries in the third term of the president (PT), such as and , helped the Dosimetria PL.
The project that reduces the sentences of those convicted of the coup plot and the acts of January 8, benefiting the former president (PL), will be turned into law following a decision by parliamentarians in a joint session of Congress this Thursday (30).
The Lula government’s setback is the second in a short period of time, given that the day before the president’s nominee to the (Supreme Federal Court), was .
Although they had representatives on the Esplanada dos Ministérios throughout the Pestist administration, the parties in the center (in addition to PSD and União Brasil, MDB, PP and Republicans) have suffered defeats in Congress at Palácio do Planalto, such as the veto of the sentence reduction project.
With the exception of the government federations PT-PC do B-PV and PSOL-Rede, the majority of parties in the Chamber instructed their parliamentarians to overturn Lula’s veto on the project. PSB, PDT and Missão did not take a position.
In the Chamber, the overturn of the veto won more votes than the approval of the project, on December 10th. Last year, 291 deputies voted for the text, against 148 who were against it.
This Thursday (30), 318 deputies took a stand in favor of maintaining the Chamber’s project, an increase of 27 parliamentarians. On the other hand, 144 defended the presidential veto, 4 less than during approval. There were 5 abstentions.
In the Senate, the only changes in the positioning of the benches were those of the PSD and MDB, which allowed their parliamentarians to vote as they wished. As a result, 7 from the PSD and 3 from the MDB voted for the overturn, while 4 from the former and 5 from the latter voted in favor of the veto. PSB, União Brasil, Podemos and PDT did not issue guidance.
The PT was the only party that advised senators to maintain Lula’s veto. He delivered 10 favorable votes from 11 senators.
The government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), did not vote. According to the PT’s advisors, as the Congress session was semi-presential, Wagner followed the discussion remotely, but was already on the flight and without access to the network when the voting panel opened.
In the Senate, the discrepancy between the two votes, separated by more than four months, was smaller: 49 senators voted to overturn the veto, while the score for approval of the project on December 17th was 48.
The proposal, approved by parliamentarians in December last year, states that the penalties for the crimes of coup d’état and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law should not be applied cumulatively when in the same context.
The text also provides for a sentence reduction of one to two thirds for the crimes of attempted coup or abolition when they were committed in a crowd, as long as the agent did not carry out an act of financing or exercised a leadership role.
On January 8 of this year, Lula vetoed the proposal in its entirety. “January 8 is marked by history as the day of victory for our democracy. Victory over those who tried to take power by force, disregarding the popular will expressed at the polls”, said the president.
With the veto overturned, the reduction of sentences and changes in regime progression will come into effect. Bolsonaro will be one of the beneficiaries.
