Voting in favor of MP Glauber Braga (PSol-RJ) was a good deal for federal deputies from Centrão and the right. On average, deputies from these two groups who “betrayed” their colleagues and voted in favor of the Psoloist obtained 9.8% more individual amendments from the Lula government at the end of the year.
On average, deputies from the right and Centrão parties who voted to “save” Glauber Braga have committed 1.92 million reais in amendments since the day of the vote until this Friday (12/26). Party colleagues who voted against the psoloist only had 1.75 million reais, a difference of 9.8%.
During the same period, deputies from the left parties – PCdoB, PDT, PSB, PSol, PT and Rede – pledged the largest amount: BRL 3.33 million.
The survey took into account the vote of each MP during the first request of the session on December 10 this year.
At the time, the PSol request called for the plenary to first vote on suspending Glauber’s term for six months, instead of the impeachment recommended by the House Ethics Council.
In that vote, Glauber had 226 votes for and 220 against – the nomination needed 257 votes to be approved, which did not happen. However, it became clear that the opposition did not have the simple majority of votes (257), necessary to remove the psoloist. Without the votes, the opposition ended up accepting a six-month suspension – an alternative to letting Glauber go without punishment.
During these six months, the mandate will be exercised by Glauber’s replacement, former MP Heloisa Helena (Rede-RJ). Expelled from the PT, Helena criticizes the Lula government.
Among the Centrão and right-wing deputies who participated in this first vote, 91 “betrayed” their colleagues and voted in favor of Glauber Braga.
The disciplinary procedure against Glauber originates from the episode of aggression against the former activist of the Free Brazil Movement (MBL) Gabriel Costenaro, who allegedly provoked him inside the Chamber. On this occasion, in April 2024, Glauber expelled Costenaro from the House.
Changes are required, but timing matters
Individual changes are obligatory, i.e. the executive is obliged to commit (reserve for payment). However, the government sets the pace at which amendments are made and also determines who has priority.
This year, the limit for individual amendments was 24.7 billion reais. So far, 23.5 billion reais have been committed, almost all of the 24.7 billion reais presented by deputies and senators.
There is a huge rush to commit the remaining billion reais, as amendments not committed by 11:59 p.m. on December 31 are lost forever.
Those incurred on time, but not paid, become “outstanding payments” to be amortized in the following years. Thanks to this and technical errors in the amendments, the amount committed varies slightly from one member of Congress to another each year. Not everyone can use 100% of individual amendments.
The survey was carried out using data from Siga Brasil, the Federal Senate and the Chamber’s Open Data page.
SRI: there is no privilege for those who voted pro-Glauber Braga
Contacted, the Secretariat for Institutional Relations of the Presidency of the Republic, responsible for monitoring the amendments, declared that there is no favoritism, since the execution of individual amendments is obligatory.
“It is not accurate to report any type of privilege or discrimination in the execution of the RP-6 Parliamentary Amendments, for the simple reason that for all, payment is obligatory, in accordance with current legislation. The execution is done through the presentation of the respective projects, and the disbursement ultimately follows the project schedule”said SRI, in a note.
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