Lira reinstalls virtual sessions to vote PEC, after blackout the day before

The president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), decided to reinstall virtual sessions this Wednesday (13) to try to finalize the vote on the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that expands social benefits in an election year.

With this, it will be possible to be present remotely, which should increase the quorum for voting on the text, reducing the risk of government defeat in important points of the text, such as the suppression of the state of emergency provided for in the opposition’s highlight.

The state of emergency was the solution found to allow President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to break the spending ceiling and create new social benefits a few months before the election, without violating the electoral law.

Bolsonaro is currently in second place in polls, behind former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The announcement of the virtual session was made by Lira shortly after the session resumed, around 11 am. The meeting that was taking place was closed so that the new, virtual one could begin.

This Wednesday, Lira also read a note about the technical problems registered by the Chamber on Tuesday. According to him, the vote was impeded by the interruption of Internet connectivity in the Chamber, “an indispensable service for the use of the parliamentary infoleg.”

The president of the Chamber qualified the facts as “serious” and said that they deserve a rigorous investigation by this House. “The technical team of the Technology Board of the Chamber of Deputies found an interruption in internet access, on 07/12/2022 (Tuesday), around 7 pm. The service is provided to the Chamber by two operators, so redundant, to avoid interruptions”, he said.

In the note, he stated that, after a preliminary investigation with the support of the PF, “it was confirmed that there was a cut in the connection of the operator Lumen”.

“The company, in several communiqués sent to the Chamber of Deputies, provided information in the sense that there was an interruption of services due to fiber optic disruption in the territory of Brasília. The serious problem, according to the company, affected several customers in the Federal District a. services resumed at 2 am.”

“There was also instability in the second link hired by the Chamber of Deputies, as reported.”

The note also talks about the opening of the preliminary investigation procedure at the Federal Police Superintendence in the Federal District.

The PF opened a preliminary investigation this Tuesday (12) to investigate flaws in the internet and inconsistencies in the voting system of the Chamber of Deputies. Technical problems led the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to suspend the vote on the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that extends social benefits in an election year on Tuesday night.

THE Sheet found that the company responsible for providing the service informed the PF that it had technical problems because of a cable break, which was related to a work and affected the internet in several places, not only in the Chamber of Deputies.