Fiscal framework can be voted on in 15 days, Chamber speaker says
In constant contact with Economy Minister Fernando Haddad, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Arthur Lira believes the new fiscal framework that will be sent by the government can be passed in about 15 days in the Chamber, still in April, and sees a version able to reconcile the needs of growth of the country with responsibility with the public accounts. "When the draft suffers criticism from the left and also from the market, it is because it is balanced," he said.In an exclusive interview with Valor, the first to a printed newspaper since he was reelected Chamber speaker, Mr. Lira says that the fiscal framework must be ahead of the tax reform in the voting order, but he trusts that the tax simplification will be voted in the first half of the year.The lack of a governing coalition, he highlighted, will not be a problem in this case. He says that he will increase the number of members of the reform working group, to 15 from the current 12, to include women and regions that were not represented.Mr. Lira is against the creation of terms for justices of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). He says that, if it were up to him, the issue would not be passed, but he throws the ball to the Senate to debate and present proposals.The dispute with the senators, however, has escalated and there are 29 Provisional Measures (MPs) from the Lula administration stalled due to an impasse in the Legislative. He defends the proposals to be voted directly in a floor vote, while Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco wants the return of joint committees, composed of deputies and senators.Mr. Lira says that the Senate has tried to impose its position and defends dialogue, but says that the deputies do not agree with the return of committees in the model that existed before and may boycott them, even if there is a court decision. If the MPs expire, he says, the Senate’s intransigence in sending them will be blamed.Read main excerpts from the interview:Valor: There is a deadlock between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, which has stopped the provisional measures. Aren’t you afraid that the Chamber will be blamed for the overthrow of the government’s proposals?Arthur Lira: Absolutely. We contend that the pandemic brought changes in the life of Parliament that will not recede, such as voting by [cell phone] applications. The rite of provisional measures is also much more democratic the way it is [straight to the floor vote]. The Chamber [will have] 90 days of debates and the Senate [will have] 30 days. The senators’ allegations that the matter arrives there with little time for debate are not true. The Senate complaint according to which it only reviews the Chamber is also irrelevant because it reviews all government matters.Valor: But the Constitution provides for discussion in joint committees...Mr. Lira: The draft congressional resolution on the pandemic, agreed upon between the two houses, is in force and has not been changed. Does the Constitution exist? It exists, but with all due respect to the courts, this is not a legal issue. It is a political issue. The joint committees' rite is no longer adequate. And if it is no longer adequate, both the speaker and the president must have the serenity and sufficient capacity to sit down, something that has not been happening, and talk, something that has not been happening — and has not been happening not because of us [Chamber]. The obstruction of conversations did not come from the Chamber. The provisional measures are unnecessarily obstructed by the Senate president.Valor: If the provisional measures expire, will the Senate and Rodrigo Pacheco be blamed?Mr. Lira: In this case, yes.Valor: At what point did the dialogue end and this brawl take place?Mr. Lira: There is no...
Para continuar a ler
PEÇA SUA AVALIAÇÃO