Government should not ‘require Parliament’s full adherence to what the Executive thinks’, says Pacheco | Policy

The president of the Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), stated this Saturday that the federal government should not “demand that Parliament fully adhere to what the Executive thinks”.

Pacheco, who is also president of the National Congress, responded to the criticism that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT), made to parliamentarians in an interview with the newspaper Folha de São Paulo that the National Congress also needs to have fiscal responsibility.

In a note, the senator stated that Congress had an agenda that helped the government achieve “record revenue” and that it voted on matters that help the State control spending.

“Therefore, the admonition of Minister Haddad, for whom I have respect, is unnecessary, not to mention unfair to Congress”, stated Pacheco in the text.

Among Haddad’s complaints are discussions regarding the federal government’s fiscal target, the rules and resources allocated to the Emergency Program for Event Sectors (Perse) and exemption from company payrolls.

The Minister of Finance also confessed that maintaining the tax exemption on municipal payrolls was not even discussed between him and Congress, before Pacheco’s decision to maintain its validity.

On the other hand, Pacheco, who called the government’s attack “unnecessary”, stated that Congress has been working in favor of the country and on agendas that contribute to the “development of Brazil”.

“Progress is based on the generation of wealth, technology, credit, opportunities and jobs, and not on the burden on business, production and labor”, he continued.

It is one thing to have fiscal responsibility, it is quite another to demand that Parliament fully adhere to what the Executive thinks about Brazil’s development. Especially because progress is based on the generation of wealth, technology, credit, opportunities and jobs, and not on the burden on business, production and labor. From the perspective of expenditure, let us not forget that spending caps, pension reform and modernization of legislative frameworks, such as basic sanitation, are works of Congress. Not to mention the 2023 agenda that we fulfilled in favor of record revenue for the Brazilian state. Therefore, the admonition of Minister Haddad, for whom I have respect, is unnecessary, not to mention unfair to Congress.”