Under Motta's management, the Chamber is empty and opposition and government agendas do not advance

Elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies on February 1st of this year, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB) imposed a new - slower - pace for votes in the plenary of the House over the last few months. During this period, the deputy dedicated part of his schedule to traveling outside Brazil and blocked the progress of proposals such as the amnesty for those arrested on January 8th, supported by the opposition, and the exemption from Income Tax (IR) for those who earn up to R$5,000, from the government.

Last week, for example, Motta halted voting in the Chamber and only formal sessions took place in the plenary. The Speaker of the House participated between Tuesday (13) and Wednesday (14) last week in a forum with businessmen and other authorities in New York, in the United States.

"We will work to protect our agenda from polarization. I have been working hard to implement this agenda. This peace process depends on harmony between the branches of government, but each branch of government must be self-critical in order to contribute to this harmony," said Motta during the event.

Behind the scenes, party leaders from Centrão admit that Motta has only been pushing forward consensus issues, while holding back agendas of interest to the opposition, led by PL, the party of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and also those of the government base of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The PL bench is waiting, for example, for the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to return to the Chamber to discuss an institutional response to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in the case of Congressman Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) . The First Panel of the Court unanimously decided to limit the effects of a resolution approved by the congressmen and which had determined the suspension of the criminal action against Ramagem for the duration of the congressman's term. In parallel, the trial is advancing in the STF with the questioning of witnesses .

“We are studying the matter with the House’s legal counsel to see how the Chamber will position itself,” Motta told CNN Brasil when asked about the issue in the US.

Ramagem's party expects the Speaker of the House to act to defend the constitutional prerogatives of parliamentarians. "When a single minister chooses to explicitly disregard the expressed will of the majority of Parliament, he attacks popular representation, the democratic principle and the independence between the branches of government," said Luciano Zucco (PL-RJ), leader of the opposition.

Amnesty and CPI of INSS remain in Hugo Motta's drawer

Before his trip to the US, Hugo Motta had also been away from Brazil for a week in March. At the time, he was part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) delegation on his trip to Japan and Vietnam.

At the time, Motta's absence made it impossible, for example, for the opposition to organize the amnesty bill for those arrested on January 8, 2023 to be discussed in the House. After returning to Brazil, the Speaker of the House reached an agreement with the College of Leaders so that the request for urgency of the proposal would not be discussed in the plenary, even with the signature of the majority of the deputies.

During a rally in Brasília on May 7, Congressman Luciano Zucco was one of the members of Congress who demanded that the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies show “respect” to the members of Congress. “President Hugo Motta, respect is a two-way street. Respect the deputies, the senators, respect Brazil. Support amnesty, because it is certainly the greatest justice you will achieve,” stated the opposition leader in the Chamber of Deputies.

Deputy Nikolas Ferreira stated that the Speaker of the House cannot be held hostage by a decision made by one person, referring to Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court. “Deputy Hugo Motta, you were elected with our votes. We trust you, and the Brazilian people are here walking, walking and asking you: demand amnesty for honor, for dignity and for doing what is right, because our country cannot be held hostage simply by a decision made by one person,” he stated.

In addition to the amnesty, Hugo Motta also left in his drawer the request for the installation of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to deal with the crisis at the National Institute of Social Security (INSS). The request was filed on April 30, but Motta has already indicated that there are at least 12 requests for CPIs filed and that they are waiting for some action.

The Chamber's internal rules allow for up to five CPIs to operate at the same time. Currently, none are active in the House. If the initiative does not move forward, the opposition has also filed a request asking for the installation of a Joint Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPMI), formed by deputies and senators. This type of committee must be installed by the president of the National Congress, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP). The strategy seeks to circumvent the tight scenario for the installation of a CPI in the Chamber.

Planalto Palace agenda is stagnant in the Chamber of Deputies

On another front, the emptying of the Chamber's agenda has also impacted the Lula government's agenda of priorities. Of the 48 priority proposals listed by the Planalto Palace for this year, only two were approved by the deputies.

The first deals with new rules for allocating federal resources in emergency situations, which has already been approved by Lula. In addition, lawmakers also approved a bill to increase racial quotas in public service to 30%, but it is still awaiting approval.

On the other hand, important proposals for the government were not discussed, especially the one that deals with the exemption of Income Tax for those who earn up to R$5,000. Hugo Motta indicated deputy Arthur Lira (PP-AL), former president of the House, to be the rapporteur of the project and installed the special committee to deal with the issue on May 6, but the committee has not yet met due to the emptying of the Chamber.

The rapporteur has indicated that he intends to deliver his opinion by the end of June, before the parliamentary recess. “Our intention is to deliver, in the first half of the year, the lean, correct project, if possible already negotiated over time with the rapporteur in the Senate,” said Lira.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives has already said that the plenary vote may only be held in August, after the parliamentary recess. “I think that the House of Representatives may vote on this after the recess, in the second half of the year. I don’t believe that the House of Representatives will vote on this before the second half of the year, because it is a measure that has a very large impact, depending on how it is constructed, on our economy,” said Hugo Motta.

Last week, the congressman told businesspeople in New York that the main challenge in the government's proposal concerns the forms of compensation to fund the exemption. The text by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad provides for it to be compensated by means of a minimum tax rate of 10% on the income of people who earn more than R$50,000 per month. Taxation of this group, however, faces resistance within Congress.

“Our biggest challenge is to find fair compensation so that we don’t have any measures being taken that could harm our country’s economic growth,” said Motta.