Everything is as before at the Abrantes barracks.
As a voter, it never occurred to me that I would also be electing the "beloved wives" of parliamentarians to work in Brasília defending the interests of the population, benevolently assuming that this is what motivates them.
The false moralism of the right manifests itself, in an unbridled way, in actions that the mainstream media simply ignores, such as the shameful case of the "wife allowance" for federal parliamentarians to pay for their wives' trips to the federal capital.
During his campaign for the presidency of the Federal Chamber, Eduardo Cunha held a meeting with the wives of the deputies, where the main demand was the guarantee of travel expenses so that they could "accompany their husbands." Deputy Nilda Gondim (PMDB-PB) organized the event, which brought together 20 wives. In her words, the low turnout at the meeting was justified by it being the eve of the inauguration. "Today it's difficult; besides the many events, there's the competition from the hairdresser. I wanted to do this because I really like Eduardo's work," stated the deputy. Among those present was the wife of Deputy Remídio de Amatur (PR-RR), Izamar Rodrigues, who affirmed Eduardo Cunha's commitment to "fighting to ensure that women's right to travel expenses is once again guaranteed."
The travel allowances had been cut following the scandal involving the misuse of parliamentary travel funds for vacations and family trips.
But with Eduardo Cunha, "everything goes back to how it was before in the Abrantes barracks."
In his campaign for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, praised by the media to defeat the government's candidate, did not include the proposal in his platform, but vehemently defended the autonomy and independence of the Legislative branch. Now we have clarity on what he meant by that – the defense of indefensible prerogatives for parliamentarians.
As a voter, it never occurred to me that I would also be electing the "beloved wives" of parliamentarians to work in Brasília defending the interests of the population, benevolently assuming that this is what motivates them. As a feminist activist, I feel particularly saddened to see that for some women, political participation has this connotation. As a journalist, I am indignant at the way the traditional and conservative media treats the subject, subtly alluding to the increase in funds for parliamentary expenses, something that is in itself already debatable.
My hope is that the Public Prosecutor's Office, so efficient in combating corruption in the government, will also be efficient in filing a public civil action against this immorality approved by the President of the Federal Chamber.
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.