The ambassadors’ PEC, as the proposed amendment to the Constitution that opens the way for politicians to become ambassadors without losing their mandate became known, was unanimously criticized during a hearing at the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) this Tuesday (5th). ).
For former Chancellor Aloysio Nunes, the proposal is part of a set of measures taken during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government that promotes the dismantling of the Brazilian State. “A constitutional change of this nature creates permanent damage to Brazilian foreign policy and to an essential prerogative of the President of the Republic, which is to speak with full authority on behalf of Brazil. [por meio de seus embaixadores]”, said.
Nunes argues that the PEC has problems in terms of merit and constitutionality and causes confusion by discouraging diplomats who enter the career willing to reach the post of ambassador. “[A PEC promove] the dilution of the border between Powers, which should not be admitted by the Constitution and Justice Commission”, he concluded.
The audience also included the participation of diplomats, professors of international relations and researchers, including Mathias Alencastro, columnist for Sheet. Everyone spoke out against the PEC.
The director of the Rio Branco Institute, Gilvania Maria de Oliveira, participated representing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos França, who is on a trip. For her, the possibility that the PEC wants to open was already buried during the 1988 Constituent Assembly. “This issue was the subject of debate in 1987 and 1988 and we consider, with all due respect to the most excellent senator Davi Alcolumbre, that there are sensitive and problematic themes in of constitutionality”, he evaluated.
Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), did not participate in the debate, despite being the president of the CCJ and author of the proposal.
The vice-president of the Board of Trustees of Cebri (Brazilian Center for International Relations), José Alfredo Lima, said that the political ambassador may face conflicts of interest, since he will have to cherish the interests of Brazilian foreign policy and meet the wishes of the voters in the state that elected him. “I would like to recall the biblical precept that one should not serve two masters,” he said.
Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) said that the proposal does not meet the public interest, attacks the separation between the Powers and can serve as another bargaining chip for the President of the Republic. “What is said is that the objective is to get one more mouth for the parliamentarian”, he said.
The discussion about the proposal that expands the powers of politicians over embassies has Bolsonaro’s sympathy, as the Panel showed. At the beginning of the government, the president tried to appoint his son Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) to head the Brazilian embassy in Washington. In 2019, the deputy said that he had, among his qualifications, the experience of an exchange program in the United States and that he “fried hamburgers in the cold of Maine”.
For international relations professor Guilherme Casarões, from FGV, the attempts to appoint Eduardo and the former mayor of Rio Marcelo Crivella to the South African embassy would be facilitated by the PEC discussed by the Senate. “In both cases, the parochial interest placed there was very clear. And that, from the point of view of Brazil’s representation abroad, causes an indelible damage to the country’s image. Both the processes and the consequences of this PEC would be very harmful.” , he said.
At the end of the hearing, the PEC rapporteur in the Senate, senator Daniella Ribeiro (PSD-PB), complained about the lack of commitment of Chancellor Carlos França in discussing the proposal. According to her, the two spoke only once, by telephone, and the conversation did not make clear the position of the Foreign Ministry in the debate.
“Since March, when I was appointed rapporteur, at no time was I approached in person [pelo chanceler]. I make a point of saying this due to the lack of commitment from the Itamaraty, due to the need to strengthen the arguments of Brazilian diplomacy”, said Ribeiro.
