Governor of Pará sees risk of tax war in the council; he criticized Zema’s statement on South-Southeast leadership
The governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB), defended this Sunday (6.Aug.2023) that the Senate review the representation of the States in the Federative Council that will be created with the tax reform to manage the funds raised. In the final stretch of the proposal’s processing in the Chamber, the composition of the group was changed in response to a request from the governor of São Paulo, Tarcisio Freitas (Republicans) and other governors of the Southeast and South regions. The change gave these states more power on the council.
The current text defines as a necessity the vote of the majority of the States that correspond to more than 60% of the population. The division of council seats, which before would have been 27 in all, with 1 for each Federation Unit, will have another 27 vacancies, part of which will be divided according to the population. For Barbalho, the change could result in a fiscal competition between the governors.
“NoWe have to discuss federative representation in the council. I think that this is a point where the format that the Chamber presented, with a percentage of decision equally by federative unit and another percentage by population density, can create a distortion that will generate fiscal competition or competition of tributary interests that, in my opinion, should not be the purpose of this process”he said in an interview with Power360in Belém (PA).
According to the governor of Pará, in the Senate, where each state has the same number of representatives, the subject can be debated more assertively.. For him, it is a risk to have States with more influence in the collegiate, since decisions taken there will impact everyone’s tax collection.
“Arriving at the home of the federation, where there is a balance between all states, this should be something to be discussed and evaluated. That is, what is the best format for this council to be able to effectively and equally represent all states and we do not run the risk of having states with a greater level of influence over something that affects the fiscal and tax health of all of Brazil”he said.
According to the text approved by the Chamber, the Federative Council will be formed by:
- 27 representatives, 1 from each state and from the Federal District;
- 27 representatives from municipalities and the Federal District (14 being elected based on equal votes and 13 based on votes weighted by the respective populations).
Decisions, on the other hand, will be taken if there is an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of the municipalities and the Federal District and the absolute majority of the representatives of the States, including, necessarily, the absolute majority of the representatives “which correspond to more than 60% of the country’s population”.
CRITICISM OF ZEMA
Helder criticized the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeo Zema (Novo), for a speech in which he defends “Protagonism” of the 7 states of the South and Southeast, which were formally organized in Cosud (South-Southeast Consortium). In an interview with the newspaper The State of S. Paulo Published on Saturday (5.Aug), the man from Minas Gerais defended the group’s joint action to overcome issues that are dear to them, such as the change in the Federative Council, in opposition to the articulation of North and Northeast States.
“If his objective was to defend a union of states against others, I think it is an absolute mistake. I think that Brazil must increasingly unite around a strong country, a united country, we are all Brazilians, we are Brazilians who collaborate with each other and that we must, therefore, always preach federative unity and strengthening of the Federation”said the governor of Pará.
He also defended the Governors’ Forum, saying that the collegiate was a “important instrument in the fight against the pandemic” and that this experience left a “an important legacy that the whole of Brazil can, together, articulate and work on, respecting the challenges of each state”.
As shown the Power360other politicians from different parties and the Consortium of Governors of the Northeast also criticized Zema’s speech, indicating that the statement incites a “war between regions” from the country.
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