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The Brazilian Parliament supported Wednesday night, by a surprising majority, the pension reform that had not been unanimous in previous legislatures and that would increase the number of years of work required for retirement. The proposal of the government of Jair Bolsonaro, modified several times by the Parliament, required 308 votes out of 513 possible. He got 379, well above the necessary, against 131 votes against. Legislators will now vote on the amendments, and then the text will go to the Senate. Initial calculations indicate a saving of over $ 200,000 million in public money over the next decade.
The approval of the reform is good news for President Jair Bolsonaro and his second big triumph in six months of government, after the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur – the bloc led by the Brazil and Argentina – and the European Union. The change in the pension system has always been a complex issue that has never been able to move forward with its predecessors. However, the success is due more to the president of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia, than to the president himself, after the special committee in charge of this issue has modified to a large extent the text sent by the executive.
Maia, of the conservative Democratas party, has clashed several times with the president of the far right. Sometimes even, publicly expressing anger at not having worked properly for the formulation of the reform in Parliament."Bolsonaro needs more time to deal with pension reform and less time on Twitter," he said in March. "The government is more annoying than help". The MP came to tell his allies that the reform would be approved "despite the government" and, in particular, Bolsonaro and his Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, were absent from the negotiations. They said that now it was the congress. Well, they let it go. One of the few statements by the president on this issue is in favor of the special police retreat, a group for which a specific amendment will be voted.
Changes during treatment
Before going into plenary, the parliamentary committee had introduced changes relating to continuous contributions, to rural workers and to the creation of a private savings scheme, points considered essential by Guedes, the ultraliberal . The essence of the text, however, remains the essential: the creation of a minimum retirement age of 62 for women and 65 for men, with a contribution period of at least 15 and 20 years, respectively . In addition, four contribution tranches are created, based on the income of each beneficiary. The arrangements made by rapporteur Samuel Moreira of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) with Maia resulted in the approval of the text in the first vote.
Bolsonaro acknowledged Maia's power a day before the vote, when he said the president of the lower house was "our general in Parliament". Not just the president, like all the members who voted in the evening of the pension reform. Before the vote, Maia delivered a speech in which she held the power of Parliament and where an unusual silence took hold of the plenary. There was no protest, neither of the center and right parties, nor of the left parties. It is exceptional that a member receives so much attention from his peers. "I salute the Chamber of Deputies, in the person of its President Rodrigo Maia, for its approval during the first round of the reform.Brazil is getting closer and closer to the path of employment and prosperity," he said. said Bolsonaro on Twitter.
To arrive at the result last night, the negotiations led by Maia in recent months have not been sufficient. He also counted on the defections of opposition parties, such as the Brazilian Socialist Party and the Labor Democratic Party, which won 19 votes out of 59. And also with the publication of 1,000 million reais (over 266 millions of dollars) in parliamentary amendments. In other words, it has been a common practice in the politics of another era: to please members of Congress with resources for their electoral bases.
This Friday, MPs will vote at least ten amendments that could change the text. The two most important and most likely to be approved are the extension of the Special Retirement for Civilian Public Security Officers (such as Federal Police, Penitentiary Officers and Highway Police) and another amendment to calculation of women's pensions.
Maia has already indicated that after the reform of the pension system, it would continue with that of the tax system. This week, he has already created a special commission to discuss it.
Courage in the economy
The pension reform renews the hope of President Bolsonaro and his Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, to reverse the pessimism of Brazilian businessmen who have paralyzed investments while waiting for concrete measures from the government. executive. The lack of confidence is measured by the median projections of the country's major financial institutions, and it was 19 weeks ago that banks lowered weekly GDP growth forecasts. The current projection suggests weak growth of 0.82% this year. The result of this Wednesday has however excited the financial market.
Parliament Speaker Rodrigo Maia, however, used the day of the vote to remind the president that the reforms would not save Brazil on their own. "Long-term investors do not invest in a country that attacks their institutions," said Maia, who increasingly appears to be a counterpoint to Bolsonaro's extreme projects, such as changing the laws in favor of voters radicals, such as release of weapons. On several occasions, supporters of the President of the Republic, encouraged by himself, exceeded their criticisms of the Parliament and the judicial system, even proposing street demonstrations for the Congress and the Supreme Court to be closed in order to allow the Far right to rule as they want.
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