Maia tries to annul the vote of the PEC dos Precatórios, and Rosa charges the Chamber within 24 hours

Former president of the Chamber Rodrigo Maia (without party-RJ) filed a request with the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to suspend the processing of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório.

According to Maia, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), adopted irregular measures in this week’s vote, when the House’s plenary approved, in the first round, the base text of the proposal. The score was tight. There were 312 votes in favor — just 4 more than the 308 needed.

Allied with the government, Lira relaxed some rules and edited an act to allow deputies who are on a trip authorized by the Chamber to vote remotely. This benefits the plan sponsored by President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party).

Lira’s decision has already been questioned by other political fields, such as the PDT and a group of deputies that brings together Joice Hasselmann (PSL-SP), Alessandro Molon (PSB-RJ), Kim Kataguiri (DEM-SP), among others.

In a new setback of the government in the STF, minister Rosa Weber, rapporteur of the process on the voting of the PEC dos Precatórios, established a 24-hour period for the Chamber to provide information on the approval of the text.

The PEC allows for the expansion of public spending and makes it possible to expand the Auxílio Brasil promised by Bolsonaro in an election year.

The action questions, in addition to remote voting, the content of the approved text.

The rapporteur of the PEC, Deputy Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), presented a new version of the bill on the eve of the vote in the plenary. The change foresees that the precatório related to the education area will be divided in three years.

The settlement of these debts, according to the text, is within the spending ceiling. The economic team supported the modification of the PEC version.

However, the strategy sewn by Lira was called a maneuver by the opposition and deputies against the proposal, such as the Novo party.

Critics of the agreement argue that the change in the text of the PEC could only be made if there were any amendments (suggestion presented by parliamentarians) with the same content. According to this group, there was no way to make the last-minute change.

“Considering the high relevance of the topic under discussion, I sign a 24-hour deadline to the petitioned authorities, in order to, if they wish, provide the information they deem pertinent, before examining the request for preliminary injunction,” Weber decided.

This Friday (5), the minister determined the suspension of parliamentary amendments that are paid to deputies and senators and controlled by the general rapporteur of the budget law that passes through Congress.

Bolsonaro determined, in October, the increase of Auxílio Brasil to R$ 400, triggering a crisis between the political and economic wings of the government.

The solution to meet the president’s demand was to circumvent the spending ceiling, proposing a change in the calculation of the fiscal rule in the PEC dos Precatórios. This PEC, which was already in the Chamber, provides for a limit for payment of court orders (debts of the Union recognized by the courts), which frees up more space in the Budget.

The two changes provided for in the PEC —involving the spending ceiling and court orders— have the potential to open a gap of more than R$ 90 billion next year, guaranteeing resources for Auxílio Brasil, aid for truck drivers and offsetting the increase in expenses related to the high of inflation.

For the OAB (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil), the PEC represents a default. In a technical note, the entity pointed out the unconstitutionalities of the proposal, which has been changed throughout the process.

For this reason, the OAB called the basic text of the PEC approved in the Chamber a “sixth default attempt, now redesigned”. The OAB evaluates resorting to Justice to overturn the measure, if approved.

The technical note indicates, for example, that the PEC offends the principle of separation of the Powers, as the precatories are issued by the Judiciary.