Bolsonaro says that deputies who voted against the PEC of the Precatório are ‘against the poor’

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) said on Thursday (4) that deputies against the PEC of the Precatório “do not want to serve the poor”.

The proposal was approved this morning in the Chamber of Deputies, in the first round, with 312 votes in favour, 144 against and 57 absences — a narrow victory for the government. The text now goes to the Senate.

“Yesterday, more than 100 deputies voted against the poor. Out of anger, because I’m president. They don’t want to serve the poor. I’ve never seen that,” said the president in Praça dos Três Poderes, where he stopped to speak with supporters.

“Leftist parties, it is common to vote against us, but voting on this issue is also evil. I hope it passes the second round here in the Chamber and in the Senate,” he continued.

The opposition split on the vote. The PDT switched sides and started to support the PEC on Thursday (4) — there were six votes against the measure, 15 in favor and one absence.

The change in the PDT’s position generated an internal crisis, with the threat of pre-candidate Ciro Gomes to leave the party.

Of the 32 deputies of the PSB, 21 voted against the PEC, 10 in favor and one was absent. In PT, Psol and PCdoB, all deputies were against the proposal, with the exception of some absences.

The Chamber approved the basic text of the PEC, which allows for the expansion of public spending and makes possible the expansion of the Auxílio Brasil promised by Bolsonaro in an election year, of R$ 400.

The measure provides for two changes — an adjustment in the calculation of the spending ceiling and a limit on the payment of court orders — and have the potential to open up more than R$90 billion slack next year.

This morning, Bolsonaro complained about the debts, which he said was 20, 30 years ago. “The Supreme Court is right next door, he put everything in my lap to pay at once,” he said.

The head of the Executive said that “some of the Supreme” have collaborated to parcel out the debt. A few months ago, STF ministers Luiz Fux and Gilmar Mendes tried to articulate, together with Paulo Guedes (Economics) and Bruno Dantas, from TCU, an exit via the judiciary for the precatório.

Bolsonaro said that if the proposal is not approved, the government will not be able to pay the debts next year.