Military lobbying to maintain privileges in the pension system is increasing.
The military wing of the Bolsonaro government is lobbying to maintain all privileges granted to the military social security system, report journalists Thiago Resende and Talita Fernandes of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper; the group wants to be excluded from the proposal that will be presented to Congress in February; General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, Minister of Defense, was chosen by the group of generals in the government to 'negotiate' the matter; the collection of 11% of the pensions of military widows is on Paulo Guedes' agenda.
247 - The military wing of the Bolsonaro government is lobbying to maintain all privileges granted to the military social security system, report journalists Thiago Resende and Talita Fernandes of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. The group wants to be excluded from the proposal that will be presented to Congress in February. General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, Minister of Defense, was chosen by the group of generals in the government to 'negotiate' the matter. The collection of 11% of the pensions of military widows is on Paulo Guedes' agenda.
A report from the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. highlights that Azevedo e Silva will have Economy Minister Paulo Guedes as a potential adversary, since Guedes publicly defends the Armed Forces within the reform. Guedes' autonomy, however, is limited, given the clear hierarchical disorganization in the government's governance structure, easily verified by the unprecedented series of reversals by various ministers and, above all, by the president himself.
The article adds that "among the measures that may affect its members are the increase in the minimum service time, from 30 to 35 years, and the collection of an 11% contribution on the pensions of military widows." Members of the Armed Forces dispute the effectiveness of these measures from the point of view of revenue collection and spending cuts. There is no estimate yet of the fiscal impact should these changes be submitted to Congress and approved.
According to the newspaper, the Army commander, Edson Pujol, opposed all the proposals. "Would you accept the removal of any right?", he asked. Pujol also stated that, due to the particularities of their careers, "military personnel should be spared from reform."
According to the report, "the political team, led by the Minister of the Civil House, Onyx Lorenzoni, generally defends a milder version and is more open to excluding the military from the text. Palace advisors say that it will be up to Bolsonaro, who is a retired Army captain, to decide." In addition to having a third of his ministers who come from the Armed Forces, the president this week appointed a general as his spokesperson, the then head of Army Communications, Otávio Rêgo Barros.