PT says that Bolsonaro’s proposal to adjust the civil servant is voter, misleading and opportunistic

Despite the civil servants being an important part of its support base, the PT classified as voters, misleading and opportunistic the announcement of President Jair Bolsonaro to give a readjustment to all federal employees, based on the budgetary slack with the possible approval of the PEC of the Precatório.

Party congressmen heard by the sheet they highlight the administrative reform proposed by the government as an example that Bolsonaro never bothered with the servers and say that the announcement made now represents only an attempt to reduce his high popular rejection.

“We received it as political opportunism and electoral measure. After sending the PEC 32 [reforma administrativa] to disrupt the public service and criminalize the civil servant, is he coming with this one?”, stated deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), national president of the PT.

Part of the PT’s electoral base is formed by civil servants, built by governments that launched public competitions to fill vacant positions or created by new ministries. PT administrations were also marked by a policy of real gain for the minimum wage.

Bolsonaro said on Tuesday (16), in Bahrain, that he intends to use the eventual approval of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório, which defaults on Union debts recognized by the courts, to adjust the entire civil service, without exception. “It’s not what they [servidores] they deserve it, but it’s what we can give,” Bolsonaro said at the time.

The Precatório PEC releases around R$ 90 billion from the Budget through artifices such as the change in the way the spending ceiling — a rule that limits the growth of expenses — is calculated, in addition to allowing the payment of court orders to be paid in installments, which are debts arising from court judgments.

The amendment has already been approved in the House, but faces more difficulties in the Senate, where it needs to go through two rounds of voting, with the support of at least 60% of congressmen (49 of 81). If changed, it will have to go through a new vote in the Chamber.

“He wants to default on the debt that already exists, it is a demagogic measure. We are not against increasing civil servants, but it has to be seen within a financial and fiscal process in Brazil. Coming from him, we know that it is not because he considers the public service to be important for Brazil, he considers it important to cast votes,” said Gleisi.

Leader of the PT’s bench in the Chamber, Deputy Bohn Gass (RS) stated that he does not consider the proposal to be serious.

“The PT is always in favor of adjustment for civil servants, but this one by Bolsonaro is about the politicking of those who have always been against the civil servant,” stated the congressman, who also defended the withdrawal of the administrative reform.

Submitted by the government in 2020, the reform has always been seen as one of the most difficult to pass because of strong lobbying by civil servants in Congress.

Approved by a special committee of the Chamber in September, it is currently with no prospect of being voted on in the plenary.

On Tuesday, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), stated that he did not notice either in society or in the government “the willingness to face this issue now”.

For the leader of the PT’s bench in the Senate, Paulo Rocha (PA), Bolsonaro’s proposal to use the PEC dos Precatório to readjust civil servants’ salaries is nothing but a deception. “He’s screwed up and wants to recover in civil service, in the poorest people.”

The PT is currently the main opposition party, has the largest bench in the Chamber (53 deputies, the same number as the PSL) and six senators. His candidate for the Palácio do Planalto, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leads the electoral polls.

Other party congressmen also expressed that they considered Bolsonaro’s proposal to be a voter.

“Not that the server doesn’t deserve it, but launching this without planning, without something thought out, is an action of pure desperation”, said deputy Alencar Santana Braga (PT-SP).

“It’s just political opportunism, an electoral, demagogic measure, not least because they are the authors of the PEC that disrupts the public servant,” said Reginaldo Lopes (MG), who will take over the leadership of the PT bench in the Chamber in 2022.

For deputy Rogério Correia (PT-MG), it is more “a presidential fake news”. “He wants to leave a PEC as a legacy [reforma administrativa] that allows you to cut 25% of the civil servant’s salary and now wants to give a readjustment that will be provisional? It’s just demagoguery on the eve of an election.”

Bolsonaro did not detail what percentage of readjustment he intends to give to the servers or when.

The Ministry of Economy has been studying for at least three months the possibility of an increase in civil servants.

The fiscal impact resulting from such a measure was estimated at R$ 5 billion to R$ 15 billion at the beginning of the discussions, according to interlocutors of the economic team heard by the sheet.

The Precatório PEC circumvents the spending ceiling and allows the government to spend another R$91.6 billion in 2022 without the need to cut other expenses — which increases the deficit in public accounts and the country’s indebtedness.

Brazil has been in the red since 2014, its debt exceeds R$5.4 trillion and interest costs are paid by society as a whole.