Chamber and Senate will have mixed committee on political reform
On Thursday (26), the presidents of the Chamber, Michel Temer, and of the Senate, José Sarney, decided to create a committee of deputies and senator to consolidate all bills being processed at the Congress and which address political reform. According to Michel Temer, that joint committee will be implemented in the first days of March and will forward those bills with the consolidated texts to the Committees on the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship of the Chamber and the Senate in 30 to 40 days. “That will easy the procedure, and the two Houses will previously agree on several points of the reform”, stressed Temer.
José Sarney reminded that dozens of bill on the subject are being processes at the Congress. According to him, the joint committee is the best option to grant priority to such an urgent matter.
"That issue is already too mature; national consciousness requires that this reform be done. And the best way to do it is by making decisions which, so far, have not been taken with that joining of efforts, with that perfect understanding between the presidents of the Chamber and the Senate”, said Sarney. “We will place that subject in the national agenda, so that Brazil reasons and we can find the best way to improve political life in this country”, he highlighted.
Suggestions
The government has already sent to Congress a set of bills for political reform, with six regular bills and a bill on a Constitutional Amendment. The following suggestions were proposed:
- Closed lists (Bill 4636/09): That bill provides for the adoption of the voting in parties’ lists, pre-ordained at the proportional elections, which is also known as a closed-list system.
- Vote purchase (Bill 4633/09): That bill broadens the classifications of vote purchase and updates the amounts of the applicable fines to offenders.
- Party change (Bill 4635/09): That bill establishes a “window” of one month for the parties’ change by the congresspeople exerting their mandates, and who intend to run for the following elections.
- Public financing (Bill 4634/09): That bill establishes the exclusive public financing for election campaigns, totally forbidding the parties to receive donations from people or corporations in cash or equivalents.
- Ineligibility (Complementary Bill 446/09): That bill declares ineligible all candidates condemned in collegiate decisions or in first-instance decisions res judicata.
- Colligations (Bill 4637/09): That bill forbids parties colligations for proportional elections – of councilmen and federal and states deputies. It allows colligations for major positions, such as governors, mayors, president and senators.
- A Barrier Clause (Bill on a Constitutional Amendment 322/09): That bill creates a barrier clause for political parties, according to their electoral performance. Only parties having obtained a minimum performance would have elected candidates for the positions of federal state or district deputy. 1% of the valid votes in Brazil would be necessary for federal deputies, provided that 0.5% of the valid votes in at least 2/3 of the states are also reached.
Report - Alexandre Pôrto/Rádio Câmara
Editing - João Pitella Junior and Noéli Nobre
Translation – Positive Idiomas Ltda