Bill favors political parties by forgiving fines for non-compliance with electoral rules; presidents of both Houses were absent
Congress enacted this Thursday (Aug 22, 2024), in an empty session, the project to forgive fines million-dollar electoral penalties applied to political parties that failed to comply with racial quotas in past elections. With these measures, congressmen benefit the very parties for which they were elected.
The enactment was made in a joint session between deputies and senators that lasted 13 minutes. The Poder360 identified, however, only 3 congressmen in the plenary: the deputy Marcos Pereira (Republicans-SP) and the senators Dr. Hiran (PP-RR) and Eduardo Gomes (PL-TO). The Presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and Arthur Lira (PP-AL), they were not.
The only one who spoke was Marcos Pereira, who is also the national president of the Republicans. In his speech, he declared that the Amnesty PEC “It is not intended to forgive sanctions arising from non-compliance with quotas relating to sex and race.”
At the end, Eduardo Gomes tried to applaud, but the empty plenary did not join in.
Known as “Amnesty PEC“, the proposal was approved by the Senate plenary 1 day after go through the CCJ (Committee on Constitution and Justice) of the House.
The PEC allows parties to renegotiate their outstanding social security debts without accrued interest and fines, with monetary correction, in up to 60 months. For other debts, the term is 180 months.
For the text, the amount not used to fulfill racial quotas in the 2020 and 2022 elections must finance the candidacy of black and brown people in the 4 subsequent elections, starting in 2026. The allocation of 30% of funds for black candidates in this year’s municipal elections.
In practice, the parties will be able to use the funds they are entitled to to pay off their debts, without incurring interest or fines for non-payment of debts in the past. The argument is that the parties need to “avoid the accumulation of debts that become unpayable”.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is still no official data from Congress or the PGFN (National Treasury Attorney General’s Office) on the amount to be forgiven.
In July, a survey of the Poder360 showed that political parties have at least R$378 million registered in the Union’s active debt. These debts may be forgiven or refinanced under favorable conditions if the PEC is approved by the Senate. The data is based on information from the PGFN in March.
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