Fux may reverse course on the budget impasse.
After making a decision that paralyzed the country and prevented the vote on the 2013 budget, Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux is expected to submit the issue of presidential vetoes to the full Supreme Court; he promised to analyze "incidental aspects" of the measure; the Attorney General's Office pointed to a potential loss of R$ 470 billion due to the paralysis of several projects, such as the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) works.
Deborah Zampier
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia – Minister Luiz Fux, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), said today (18) that he is still evaluating whether he will take the issue of presidential vetoes to the Court's plenary session. He was responsible for the decision that prevented the consideration of the vetoes to the new Oil Royalties Law, a fact that ended up creating a political knot for the voting on the 2013 Budget.
According to the minister, his preliminary injunction regarding the vetoes is "strictly within the terms of the Constitution," but now he will analyze whether there are "incidental aspects that are not intimately linked to legal issues" that need to be reconsidered. He spoke to journalists during a break in a public hearing at the Supreme Court to discuss the new law on pay television.
At the end of last year, Fux granted an injunction in a writ of mandamus filed by Congressman Alessandro Molon (PT-RJ) to block the consideration of the vetoes on the new law on the distribution of... royalties Regarding oil, Fux ruled that the matter be suspended until Congress votes on more than 3 pending vetoes in chronological order. According to the Constitution, the House has 30 days to consider presidential vetoes, under penalty of blocking the agenda, which has never been respected.
Last week, the Attorney General's Office (AGU) filed a petition with the Supreme Court reinforcing the harm that Fux's injunction could cause to public coffers. with estimated losses of R$ 470 billionAccording to Attorney General Luís Inácio Adams, Congress should not vote on the 2013 budget until the Supreme Court decides on the vetoes. He advocates for a definitive position from the full court, not just from a single justice.
Today, Fux reiterated that his injunction does not prevent the consideration of the Budget or any other regular legislative agenda. "There was already another decision allowing the Budget vote, because the reason [for last year's injunction] was to prevent one veto from overriding the vote on another. It had no direct connection to the Budget."
Fux stated that he has not yet been made aware of the new arguments presented by the Attorney General's Office and avoided discussing a possible inclusion of the matter on the agenda for this week's hearings. The Supreme Court holds sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Editing: Fabio Massalli