Brazilians living abroad want to elect congresspeople
On Tuesday (10), the president of the Chamber, Michel Temer, received the visit of Senator Cristovam Buarque (PDT-DF) and five representatives of Brazilians who live abroad. They submitted a petition with 22,000 signatures in favor of the PEC 05/05, which concedes to Brazilians living abroad the right to elect their representatives. According to the bill, special circumscriptions should be created with this objective.
Senator Buarque highlighted that, if the amendment to the Constitution is approved, it will later have to be regulated, to define the amount of representatives. According to their opinion, they should be four deputies, representing the Brazilians in the United States, in Japan, in Europe and in the rest of the world.
European examples
The senator evaluates that there are from 3 to 5 million Brazilians currently living abroad. He highlighted that there are already similar mechanisms in the parliaments of Spain, Portugal and Italy, because those countries had a high rate of immigration in the past, and currently reserve seats for representatives of their citizens living abroad.
Michel Temer said that he commits to swift the procedures of that bill, as soon as it gets to the Chamber. The PEC was approved in 2006 by the CCJ of the Senate in the form of a substitution bill, which determines that the representatives be federal deputies. The bill is still waiting for the voting at the Senate’s floor.
Report - Eduardo Tramarim
Editing - Marcos Rossi
Translation – Positive Idiomas Ltda