Lira prohibits the Chamber from providing the result of the maneuver to approve the PEC of the Precatório

The Chamber of Deputies is keeping under secrecy the names of the parliamentarians who only voted in the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório thanks to a maneuver sponsored by Arthur Lira (PP-AL), president of the House, to increase the chances of approval of the measure.

Priority of the Jair Bolsonaro government at this time, the PEC was approved in the first round with a slack of only four votes, in the early hours of Thursday (4). Lira’s maneuver allowed deputies on an official mission trip to vote without registering their presence in the plenary’s biometric identification system.

With the return of face-to-face work in the Chamber, deputies can continue voting remotely through an application on their cell phones, as long as they have registered their presence in the plenary.

Fearing defeat, however, the Chamber of the Chamber lowered the act, making the rule more flexible hours before the bill was voted on. The PEC allows for the expansion of public spending, circumventing the spending ceiling, and enables the expansion of Auxílio Brasil, Bolsonaro’s bet to boost its popularity in the election year.

Any amendment to the Constitution needs the support of at least 60% of the deputies — 308 out of 513. The PEC passed in the first round by 312 votes to 144. Next week the highlights and the second round of the proposal should be voted.

A sheet has been asking since Thursday (4) to Organs technical bodies of the Chamber the names of the deputies who voted through this loophole.

Members of these bodies, however, have refused to pass on the data, even without the existence of a technical basis that authorizes such an attitude. The assertion given is that such information can only be provided with the express order of Lira.

The report questioned the Casa’s press office, who said at first that such information should be requested from the Chamber president’s press office.

This, in turn, said that this information should be requested via the Access to Information Law, but requested that the sheet, again, send the formal request to the Chamber’s advisors. In response, the agency said that the data must be requested via LAI.

The access to information law determines that public bodies must promote active transparency, as a standard, or grant immediate access to data, if available, as is the case.

A sheet requested information through LAI at 10:53 am this Friday (5), but has not yet received a response.

According to LAI, the only reason that there is no possibility of immediate concession is that the response will be sent within a period of no more than 20 days, renewable for another ten.

Opposition parliamentarians filed a lawsuit in the STF (Supreme Federal Court) requesting the annulment of the PEC vote, due to the maneuver sponsored by Lira.

In the action, opposition members claim that the Chamber’s regiment was swindled. “On a case-by-case basis and in patent deviation, an act was edited to ensure the necessary quorum”, states the lawsuit.

Lira was asked at a press conference on Thursday why the Chamber has refused to release the names of lawmakers, but he dodged. “I don’t know if it isn’t publicizing. The votes are open. There were six or eight deputies traveling, two in favor and four or five against,” he said.

Among the questions not answered by Lira’s and the Chamber’s advisors, this Friday, are which rule authorizes the House to only disclose public information available through the LAI and why the president of the House has kept these names confidential.

Bolsonaro’s ally, Lira was directly involved in seeking votes to approve the PEC, which reportedly included offering funds from the billion-dollar parliamentary amendments.

Due to his power in Congress and influence in the Executive, the president of the Chamber holds the decision to distribute and execute the so-called RP-9 amendments, whose destination meets exclusively political criteria. This year they are around R$ 16 billion, the same amount that lawmakers are trying to get for 2022, the election year.