Congress may analyze President Lula’s vetoes this Wednesday; government wants to postpone session | Policy

Congress is expected to meet this Wednesday (24) to analyze 32 vetoes by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on proposals approved by parliament. The session is scheduled for 7pm. But leaders from the government base articulated, on Tuesday night (23), the postponement of the vote.

This is because sensitive issues are at stake for the execution of the budget. If defeated, the government will be forced to comply with a schedule for releasing amendments — expenses that deputies and senators indicate to invest in their electoral strongholds, in the form of works and projects.

President Lula sanctions with vetoes project on prisoner release

In addition to the schedule, among the vetoes, there is a cut of R$5.6 billion in amendments indicated by Congressional committees — which are not mandatory.

The government has already said that it accepts recompensing around R$3 billion, that is, a smaller amount. In this way, this type of indication will reach a level of R$ 14 billion.

The session’s agenda is a project that ends with the temporary release of prisoners, the “sainha”, on holidays and commemorative dates, such as Mother’s Day and Christmas.

After a vote in Congress, the government resumed two possibilities for prisoners in a semi-open regime, who have not committed a serious or heinous crime:

• visit family;
• participate in activities that contribute to the return to social life.

During this Wednesday’s vote, parliamentarians can overturn these two types of ideas.

Other laws can be changed, according to the decision of parliamentarians in the veto session:

• at what rate sports betting;
• flexibility in the registration of pesticides;
• Pé de Meia program, which provides for the payment of a monthly financial incentive to low-income students enrolled in public high school;
• the National Policy on the Rights of Populations Affected by Dams;
• Organic Law of the Military and Civil Police;
• There are also vetoes on the agenda from the Jair Bolsonaro administration, which rejected, for example, the return of free baggage check-in on flights.

When a proposal is approved by the Chamber and Senate, it is up to the Presidency to assess whether it becomes law, so that it becomes valid. The president can accept only part of the text and reject the rest.

After the rejection (veto), a new round of voting takes place in Congress, in which parliamentarians decide whether or not they agree with the changes promoted by the Executive.