The new presidents of the Chamber and of the Senate will assume their positions on Monday (February 2nd), and will find 1,152 presidential vetoes (total or partial) waiting for their voting by deputies and senators. The veto is the device that represents the disagreement of the President of the Republic regarding a bill approved in Congress.

The leader of PMDB at the Chamber, Deputy Henrique Eduardo Alves (RN), affirms that the voting of the vetoes should deserve the attention of the new Governing Boards of the Chamber and of the Senate. “If the House approves and the President vetoes, the House has to speak up. It is an obligation, they did not vote by fantasy, but because they are convinced of their opinion.”

The Chamber and the Senate can dismiss a veto by absolute majority, in a secret voting. Without the review of the veto, the decision of the President of the Republic keeps being valid.

Agenda locking
According to the Constitution, the veto locks the agenda of the Congress’ sessions 30 days after having been sent by the Executive Power, and impeaches the voting of any other subject. That locking does not happen in the practice, though, because the veto is considered as received only after its reading at the House Floor, which is not a frequent practice.

The call for the joint session of the Chamber and the Senate to review vetoes is up to the president of the Senate. The Deputy Henrique Eduardo Alves reminds that the current president of the Senate, Garibaldi Alves Filho, called for sessions in which vetoes of last year were voted. The leader of PMDB considers that the voting of the vetoes has not advanced additionally, only because of the large number of provisional measures and because of the fact that 2008 was an electoral year.

PEC renders locking effective
In order to render effective the locking of the agenda, which is previewed at the Constitution, and to oblige Congress to review the vetoes, the Deputy Zenaldo Coutinho (PSDB-PA) proposed a bill (PEC 197/07) establishing that a term of 30 days starts to be counted from the publishing of the veto. “With that, we will have swiftness, speed and the requirement that National Congress votes the vetoes of the Presidency of the Republic”, says the Deputy.

Zenaldo Coutinho affirms that the fact that the president of the Senate simply does not determine the reading of the veto of the President of the Republic when he receives it is a “very severe distortion”. The Deputy expects that the new Presidents of the Chamber and of the Senate prioritize the subject in the next legislative session.

The PEC 197/07 is awaiting a review by the Committee on the Constitution and Justice of the Chamber.

Report - Alexandre Pôrto/Rádio Câmara
Editing - Pierre Triboli
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda