The president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), demanded a more direct participation of the federal government and, mainly, of the Ministry of Economy, in the search for solutions for the high fuel prices. Lira met with party leaders from the Chamber, in a meeting that lasted approximately four hours. In the end, he made a brief statement to the press and did not answer questions.
“There is an almost unanimous feeling on the part of the leaders who participated in this meeting that the Ministry of Economy, the federal government, has to be directly involved, participate more closely in these discussions,” said Lira. He even proposed that President Jair Bolsonaro edit provisional measures (MPs) instead of proposing bills, when that is possible.
“Provisional measures that may change the State-Owned Companies Law, which allow for greater synergy between state-owned companies and the government of the moment”, exemplified the mayor. For Lira, the MPs would make the government participate more directly and bring about faster effects, as the provisional measures are valid as soon as they are published and have a period of no less than 60 days before Congress has to ratify them.
Lira suggested that the government edit an MP to amend the Law on State-owned companies, legislation created in the Michel Temer government as a response to political influence in Petrobras, which was identified as one of those responsible for the corruption revealed in Operation Lava Jato. “What was approved back then, still in the rebound of the operations and situations that Brazil went through, transformed state-owned companies into autonomous beings with their own lives and dissociated from the government of the moment”, criticized Lira.
The president of the Chamber stated that he should propose to the government the edition of an MP with changes in the formatting system for tax increases on the issue of profits. “For this we will still need a detailed discussion regarding the legal and technical aspects”, he pointed out.
Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco also attended the meeting, but did not speak to the press. According to Lira, Pacheco asked the Chamber to analyze the Bill (PL) 1.472/2021, which changes the way fuel prices are calculated, in addition to creating a Stabilization Account. this project passed the Senate in March, he went to the Chamber, but did not go forward in the House. Lira stated that she will “evaluate” the issue.
Lira’s reaction
The government and allies’ offensive against Petrobras began on Friday (17), when Petrobras announced a further increase in fuel. After the announcement, Arthur Lira began to manifest on social media, asking for the departure of the state-owned company’s president, José Mauro Coelho, and attacking members of the Petrobras board.
Lira’s speech was accompanied by a statement by the President of the Republic, in an equally critical tone. Jair Bolsonaro called for the opening of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate the state-owned company. Today’s meeting, at the Official Residence of the Presidency of the Chamber, also had the CPI as its theme. However, the departure of Coelho, who resigned today can cool this possibility.
The mayor spoke about Coelho’s departure. According to him, the fact should not be celebrated, but he judged it to be an important event. “What happened is important to give predictability to what its majority partners, whether they are Brazil or the government of Brazil, think about destinations and exits at this time of a pandemic”.
Lira will still talk, tomorrow morning (21), with opposition leaders to mature the ideas discussed today. While the meeting took place, in the house of the president of the Chamber, several opposition deputies used the tribune of the plenary of the House to question the responsibilities attributed by the government to the high prices. In common, they all criticized a possible discussion about the privatization of Petrobras.
