By Ricardo Brito
BRASÍLIA (Reuters) – The plenary of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) is considering ending the so-called secret budget in a trial scheduled to begin this Wednesday, at the same time that the congressional summit is already discussing ways to maintain power over the billionaire allocation. of funds from parliamentary amendments, sources heard in recent days told Reuters.
The rapporteur’s amendments or RP-9 –known as the secret budget– gained importance during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and became the target of criticism and judicial questioning.
The validity of the file was contested in the Supreme by members of the opposition to Bolsonaro because it hides the real beneficiaries of amendments indicated by the general rapporteur of the Budget. The use of these resources –to purchase ambulances or other services and works, for example– also does not follow any criteria of need and are transferred outside the federal government, being a kind of parallel budget.
In next year’s Budget, the distribution of 19.4 billion reais in rapporteur amendments is expected, half of the amounts reserved for parliamentary amendments in general.
According to sources, the eventual end or restriction of the expedient has already had an impact, with greater parliamentary support for the Transition PEC, and by facilitating the balance of power of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the National Congress, in particular with the center.
Doctor in State Law from the University of São Paulo (USP) Renato Ribeiro de Almeida, said that the Legislative Power is taking responsibility for administering and allocating Union resources, which is an “abnormality”.
“It is not part of the functions of the Legislative Power to have this modality of amendments, even more so when they have this other nature, popularly called “secret”, under criteria that are not very well placed, placed in an imposing way”, he told Reuters.
“So, the Executive branch loses its strength and characteristics to make room for the Legislative branch. I understand, therefore, that the STF should declare the so-called amendments of the rapporteur unconstitutional”, he highlighted.
In the STF, according to two sources, there are those who bet that in the judgment that begins this Wednesday, the plenary may end the file considering it unconstitutional for contradicting principles of transparency and public morality.
However, the same sources do not stipulate the result of the trial because it is not known what will be the content of the vote of the president of the Supreme Court and rapporteur for the actions on the case, Rosa Weber. Last year, Weber had already issued an injunction, later confirmed by the plenary of the STF, ordering Congress to have greater transparency in their execution. However, experts have said that there has been only a partial improvement in identifying the “sponsors” of the grants.
A third source at the STF said that there is still the possibility that a minister may ask for a review of the case during the trial, which will postpone the definition until next year.
If it occurs, the measure could benefit the current presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who will run in early February for re-election to their positions. Behind the scenes, the two have ascendancy over the negotiations involving amendments to the rapporteur.
During the campaign, Lula harshly criticized the secret budget, saying that it was the “greatest banditry committed in 200 years of the Republic”. Elected, he moderated the speech and started to defend transparency in the execution of the amendments at the same time that he sought to approach Lira, formerly Bolsonaro’s ally and who plays a fundamental role in the advancement of the Transition PEC and proposals of the new government in the Chamber.
In the text of the PEC approved by the Senate CCJ and going to the plenary, an amendment was included that opens up fiscal space already in this year’s Budget. This measure allows for the release of resources that can be used to pay for the 2022 rapporteur’s amendments, which are blocked by budget cuts. A source allied with Lula said that the change ends up helping in the climate to approve the proposal.
REACTION
In view of the expectation of the judgment, according to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations, congressional leaders articulate a proposal to maintain power over the billions of resources in the event of an eventual overthrow or restriction of the secret budget.
One of the ideas under discussion is, after the Supreme Court’s judgment, talking to the court ministers to meet the criteria for passing on these rapporteur amendments, according to the source. Another possibility is to redistribute the 19.4 billion reais foreseen in next year’s budget in committee and bench amendments, other types of parliamentary amendments.
These negotiations involve Lira, Pacheco, the general rapporteur for the 2023 Budget, Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), and other leaders, according to the source. On Monday morning, during a meeting at the official residence of the President of the Chamber in which they discussed an agreement to vote on the Transition PEC, the matter was discussed by leaders.
On the morning of this Wednesday, the Senate and the Chamber forwarded to the STF a joint memorial in which they ask for the rejection of the actions that challenge the rapporteur’s amendments. They argue that “successive measures were taken to expand publicity, transparency and institutional and social control mechanisms in the appointment of amendments to the general rapporteur, in particular regarding the mandatory identification of the requesting or supporting parliamentarian”.
According to the parliamentarians, there is no “violation of a fundamental precept, having demonstrated that the programs included by the rapporteur’s amendments represent the synthesis of budgetary policy decisions within the scope of the National Congress that observe the constitutional, legal and regimental assumptions”.
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