Rui Costa says that changing the State-Owned Law is not on the government’s agenda at the moment

The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa (PT), said this Monday (2) that the change in the Law of State-owned Companies is not on the agenda of the government at this time.

The minister cited the approval of the issue in the Chamber and the discussion in the Senate, but said that the project is not a priority for the Executive at the beginning of his term.

The proposal eases rules that restrict the appointment of politicians to positions on the boards and directors of these public companies and is an old demand from the Legislature.

The project could, in theory, facilitate the nominations of Aloizio Mercadante to head the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).

Petistas claim, however, that they can assume the direction of state-owned companies even if the law is not changed.

The change in the law gained strength at the end of 2022 and united allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and also President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The State-Owned Liability Law (13,303/2016) was sanctioned by President Michel Temer (MDB), in response to a series of investigations that pointed to the political use of companies in previous administrations. The objective was to strengthen the governance of state-owned companies and shield them against political interference.

Mercadante’s situation is the subject of controversy. In a note, the PT’s advisory states that his appointment does not violate the legislation, because he would not have been “a participant in the decision-making structure of a political party or in work linked to the organization, structuring and carrying out of an electoral campaign”.

According to a note released by Mercadante’s team, he “did not perform any remunerated function in the campaign” for Lula, nor was he “linked to any activity of organization, structuring or carrying out the campaign”;

Experts, however, disagree. Sylvio Coelho, who coordinated the drafting of the State-Owned Liability Law in the Senate in 2016, says that there is indeed an affront to the law.

According to him, article 17 of the law says that “it is prohibited to appoint, to the Board of Directors and to the board of directors, a person who has acted, in the last 36 (thirty-six) months, as a participant in the decision-making structure of a political party or in work linked to the organization, structuring and carrying out of an electoral campaign [§ 2°, inciso II da lei]”.