Government and Congress trigger TSE to see if it is legal to reduce fuel in election year

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the summit of Congress will present a formal consultation to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to clarify whether it is possible to reduce the price of fuel without violating the electoral law.

Ministers Ciro Nogueira (Casa Civil) and Bruno Bianco (AGU), accompanied by the presidents of the Chamber and Senate, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), have a virtual audience this Monday (14) , at 7 pm, with TSE ministers Edson Fachin, Luís Roberto Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes.

The question was raised by the Planalto legal team, which fears that this type of benefit could harm the electoral legislation in the year in which the president seeks reelection.

In both Houses of Congress, reducing fuel prices is the main agenda at the moment. In the Bolsonaro government, it is also treated as a priority.

In the Chamber, government deputy Christino Áureo (PP-RJ) filed a PEC (Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution) with the approval of the Planalto.

In the Senate, another one emerged, dubbed “PEC Kamikaze” by the economic team. She had the support of government ministers and the senator and son of the president, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ).

Recently, Lira started to defend the approval of the project that freezes the collection of ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) on fuels before Congress advances in the discussion of the PEC that affects federal taxes.

“We should focus on the text of PLP 11, which the Chamber voted and is in the Senate, so that we can modulate the freezing of ICMS prices at a value that is fair for the population,” Lira told leaf, on the last 8th. “We will then proceed with a more rational discussion of the PECs.”​

In the same vein, the Senate president argued that the analysis of the Kamikaze PEC may not be necessary, prioritizing projects that are already in the pipeline.

“In the Senate, what we have to assess is the need to consider some more point that is of a constitutional nature. If eventually we manage to materialize all these initiatives in infra-constitutional proposals, there would, in theory, be no need for the PEC”, he stated.

The president’s assistants argue that, with the approval of the TSE, the ideal is to vote together the ICMS bill and the Fuel PEC.

The possibility of violating the electoral law by granting benefits had already been raised by technicians from the legal area of ​​the Planalto at the time of the veto of the bill that intended to open a program to renegotiate tax debts for MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs) and Simples Nacional companies. .

The president was determined to antagonize the economic team, which pointed to the risk of violating the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law) and provisions of the LDO (Budget Directive Law) and the Constitution.

When technicians from Paulo Guedes’ team came up with the possibility of a partial veto, the Planalto legal area identified, within hours of the veto deadline, a possible incompatibility with the electoral law.

Begrudgingly, Bolsonaro vetoed the device. He later admitted that he could not risk being ineligible and advocated for Congress to override its own veto.

Sought by the report at the time, the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) said that “it can be configured as prohibited the gratuitousness of the benefit – with no counterpart by the beneficiary – and if the previous execution in a previous year is discarded, as provided for in article 73, paragraph 10 of the Law on Elections”.

“However, it should be noted that these issues are analyzed individually by the Electoral Justice,” said the court.