“I am against increasing the number of federal deputies”, says Marangoni

In an interview with the Café com a Gazeta do Povo program this Monday (19), federal deputy Fernando Marangoni (União-SP) stressed that he is against increasing the number of seats for federal deputies. According to him, the opportunity to carry out political reform for a "fair and broad" redistribution in Brazil was lost.

The parliamentarian recalled that spending in the Chamber of Deputies is already high and the parliamentarian's work also consists, according to him, in containing and reducing spending, in addition to maintaining the proportionality and representation of the states.

"I am completely against the proposal to increase the number of seats in the way it was made. I was at an official event and could not participate in the vote, but the way it was presented I cannot be in favor. I see that we have lost the chance to make a fair and proportional political reform. The state of São Paulo, for example, will lose out with this expansion. More than that, approval means an increase in spending and, for that reason, I am against it."

The congressman also commented on the merger between União Brasil and Progressistas (PP), which became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies. Both parties are part of President Lula's (PT) cabinet, but he emphasized that the presence of the parties. Marangoni emphasized that even though the parties have portfolios in the Federal Government, this is due to a governability agreement, but with respect for individual opinions.

"Even though the parties have participation, there is no uniformity in the voting of both parties. You have wings that vote with the government, others against it and another part that remains undecided. It has to do with governability and not support," he said.

Senators want to block proposal that increases the number of deputies in the Chamber

Approved by the majority of deputies in the Chamber, the proposal to increase the number of parliamentarians from 513 to 531 is likely to face resistance in the Senate. Both in the opposition and in the government base, some senators have spoken out against the proposal and have promised to try to even reduce the number of deputies. The proposal has not yet been scheduled to be voted on in the Senate.

At least 13 of the 81 senators have already publicly criticized the increase. The critics are not only from the opposition. Members of parties that support the government are also speaking out against the maneuver by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), to prevent states from losing seats in the House in order to adjust the number of deputies to population changes.

For Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), the increase in the number of deputies is a "slap in the face to society" and "a Greek gift". Girão stressed that it is important for the Brazilian population to speak out against this project. "I will vote against it, I will work against it; and, with the grace of God, we will avoid this further loss for Brazil", highlighted the senator. He also suggested that the number of deputies be reduced to 300.

The proposal to reduce the number of deputies was also mentioned by Senator Izalci (PL-DF). He stated that he should present an amendment to reduce the number of deputies according to the seats available in the Chamber's plenary: 396 seats.