With the flight of federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) to the United States (USA), the president of the Chamber, deputy Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), prohibited parliamentarians from voting through the House’s electronic system if they were abroad. The exception will be for deputies on authorized official missions.
In a decision published in Official Gazette of the ChamberMotta fully accepted the opinion of the General Secretariat of the Legislative House. The opinion assessed that parliamentarians outside the national territory cannot vote, even if they are supported by a medical certificate.
“There is no regulatory possibility for the Federal Deputy to register attendance or vote through the Infoleg app while he is outside the national territory, as he is not on an authorized official mission”, says the opinion signed by the secretary general of the Board, Lucas Ribeiro Almeida Júnior.
Federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem, who fled the country to escape prison for participating in the coup plot, had managed to vote in the Anti-Faction Bill (PL) from abroad using the Infoleg app. The Chamber analyzes whether or not to cancel the parliamentarian’s vote.
Brasília (DF), 10/01/2024 – Alexandre Ramagem fled the country to escape prison for participating in the coup plot. Photo-file: Carolina Antunes/Presidency of the Republic – Carolina Antunes/Presidency of the Republic
Ramagem was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for participating in the coup plot that intended to annul the 2022 presidential elections to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro in Power. The deputy was at the time director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin). He has always denied the accusations.
Due to the conviction, the STF determined, this Tuesday (25), in a letter sent to the Board of Directors of the House, that the Chamber must declare the loss of Ramagem’s mandatewhich has already had the sentence ordered by Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
Escape
Ramagem is on the run in Miami, in the United States. During the investigation, the parliamentarian was banned by Minister Alexandre de Moraes from leaving the country and had to surrender all national and foreign passports.
After the discovery of the escape, the Chamber reported that the House was not informed about the deputy’s removal from national territory nor did it authorize any official Ramagem mission abroad.
The House also reported that the parliamentarian presented medical certificates covering the periods between September 9th and October 8th and October 13th to December 12th.
