The proposal relaxes rules and prohibits collective applications; deputies say the main objective is to reduce parties
This week, the Chamber of Deputies approved mini-electoral reform projects. Despite having the name “mini”the reform is broad and makes a series of rules more flexible, such as the use of the Electoral Fund, accountability and the 30% female quota.
Experts consulted by Power360 differ on the text approved by the deputies. While there are those who criticize the project and talk about setbacks, there are also those who defend it and say that the project corrects “excesses” of legislation. Deputies say that the main objective of the text is to reduce the number of parties, in addition to making the law clearer.
Paulo Henrique Golambiuk, president of the Paraná Institute of Electoral Law, told Power360 that the “most radical” change in his assessment was the change to the Clean Record law in the case of ineligibility.
“The most significant change that I see in the reform is the unification of the period of ineligibility, in criminal cases and in cases of administrative improbity. Today you have the period of ineligibility counting from the time you serve your sentence. If the would-be candidate already has a collegial decision, in the 2nd degree, he is already ineligible during this period”he declared.
Current law determines the period of ineligibility in 8 years following the end of the mandate for which they were elected. The approved proposal determines that the period of 8 years of ineligibility is counted from the date of the decision decreeing the loss of the elected position. In other words, it will no longer be possible for a politician to remain ineligible for more than 8 years.
“All the changes they are making to the Clean Record law are trying to unify and standardize them so that they effectively contain 8 years and no more”argued Golambiuk.
Another point of concern for the president of the Paraná Institute of Electoral Law is the release of combined propaganda from candidates from different parties. In other words, candidates and opponents can advertise together.
“Any advertisement, what’s more, the text says that only the candidate who paid needs to account for it”, said the expert.
For political scientist, lawyer and president of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Partisan Transparency, Marcelo Issa, the only positive section is the one that deals with gender-based political violence.
The approved project expands the list of victims of political violence against pre-candidate women and any woman who suffers this type of violence due to political, party or electoral activity.
Issa told the Power360 that there was a“setback” in relation to accountability. “I see a positive point regarding gender-based political violence. But everything else brings a series of setbacks in relation to accountability”he said.
He cited as an example the case of partial accountability, which is in force today, and with the new project will cease to exist. In addition Failure to provide accounts will only result in the suspension of new quotas from the Party Fund, until they are regularized. The entire amount received is kept with the party and can be moved. “You can receive resources [sem ser do Fundo]use irregularly and not be obliged to reimburse”argued Issa.
The political scientist also said that simplifying is different from deregulating. During the discussion of the project, different congressmen spoke about simplifying the legislation.
“A deregulation in which you will produce more confusion and complexity than simplification. As for example in the case of allowing cross-campaigns to be carried out without practically any criteria”he said referring to the combined propaganda of candidates from different parties.
The specialist carried out a critical analysis of the text, citing other points, including the flexibility of the gender quota in the legislation. Under current law, each party or coalition must meet the minimum 30% for female candidates.
In the approved proposal, the quota of female candidates, in case of party federationsO minimum percentage of applications will be “globally benchmarked on the federation listand not in each member party”.
For the lawyer and member of the Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law, Ludgero Liberato, the reform serves “to correct excesses”.
“Not everything has to be seen only with concern. Much of the reform can still be called mini which, although it affects many institutes, does not affect many things. There are many specific issues and many of the specific issues deserve praise”he told the Power360.
Liberato cited as an example the flexibility in the presentation of documents, which now eliminates those produced based on information held by bodies of the Judiciary. He also spoke about the evolution of legislation in relation to pre-campaign spending. The project establishes guidelines for declaring expenditure.
The member of the Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law agrees with the statement that the reform achieves its main objective of, over the next few years, reducing the number of parties in Brazil.
“In general, it is much more a reform to correct the excesses of previous reforms and to encourage a reduction in the number of parties than to cause a general turmoil, an immunity, as has been boasted”he declared.
Despite defending the approved text, Liberado recognizes that there are points of concern. One of them is the prohibition on the seizure of the Electoral and Party Fund.
The project approved by deputies prohibits the seizure and blocking of resources from the Party Fund and the Electoral Fund to comply with civil, labor, criminal, tax or other obligations. The caveat is if something illegitimate is found by the Electoral Court.
“The income they have for most political parties is income from these Funds. It’s almost like admitting that he can incur expenses and not be forced to pay anyone.”argued the lawyer.
There are 2 projects approved by the deputies: one for an ordinary law and one for a complementary law. O bill (PL 4438 of 2023) which deals with the general changes of the reform was approved on Wednesday (September 13, 2023) by 367 votes in favor, 86 against and one abstention.
Already the complementary bill (PLP 192 of 2023) on the rules related to the ineligibility period was approved this Thursday (September 14th) by 345 votes in favor, 45 against and one abstention.
The projects were prepared in the working group chaired by the deputy Dani Cunha (União Brasil-RJ), daughter of the former president of the Chamber Eduardo Cunha. In addition to her, 6 other deputies were in the group:
To be valid in the 2024 elections, the changes must be voted on in Congress and then sanctioned by the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) until October 6th.
The President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), suggested during the week that the mini-electoral reform should not be voted on in the Upper House in two weeks.
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Chamber approves electoral reform projects that relax rules;
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