In a context of tension between the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the government, the leaders of the Chamber canceled the meeting scheduled for yesterday afternoon with the ministers of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha. The meeting would serve to outline the agenda of Congress with the resumption of legislative activities and discuss the content of the provisional measure ending the payroll tax exemption policy.
According to Station/Broadcast, there was no atmosphere for the meeting given the points of conflict between the government and the Lira. The politician from Alagoas would not be present at the meeting. The expectation is that the meeting will take place after Carnival, when parliamentarians return in force to Brasilia.
The day before yesterday Lira took advantage of the opening session of the legislative year to send a tough message to the federal government. He called for respect for what he called the “signed agreements” and stated that the approval of the executive’s proposals in 2023 “will be the keynote for 2024”, provided that “the example of good politics and respect prevails of the commitments made”.
The MP said the Union Budget “belongs to everyone, not just the Executive”. He also criticized what he called “technical bureaucracy” in the distribution of resources and said that deputies and senators have a greater knowledge of the needs of each municipality to define where the money goes.
Yesterday the head of government in the Chamber, MP José Guimarães (PT-CE), said that it was his initiative to cancel the meeting and downplay Lira’s speech. The PT deputy declared that he found “nothing special” in the speech of the President of the Chamber. “The planning of the meeting and the speech are different things. Our idea is, after Carnival, to pacify a meeting. The minister is evaluating it with the two presidents of the Chamber and the Senate”, he declared.
ON THE EVE
The emphatic tone of Lira’s speech was inserted on the eve of the reading of the statement, according to the report. The message was given against a backdrop of new tensions between the government and the legislature since late last year.
The Lula government and Congress are discussing the solution of a package of measures that affect the interests of both parties in 2024. Lula vetoed the payment schedule for amendments for this year in the Law on Budget Guidelines ( LDO) and R$5.6 billion in the commission’s amendments in the 2024 Budget. MPs threaten to overturn both vetoes.
Additionally, the government signed an interim measure to repay 17 sectors of the economy that benefited from the payroll tax cuts, contrary to the Legislature, which overrode the president’s veto.
‘WIRELESS PHONE’
Tension between Lira and Padilha is also cited as a reason for a more “energetic” speech. Centrão leaders argue that Padilha acts as a “wireless telephone”, transmitting one message to the Legislature and another to Lula, violating agreements, especially regarding the publication of amendments and appointments of positions.
Haddad declined to comment on Lira’s speech yesterday. Questioned by journalists, the Finance Minister was concise: “Everything is fine, everything will be fine.” “I wasn’t the one who canceled the meeting with the deputies,” he said.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paolo.
Source: Terra
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