Maia wants to vote on pension reform by May: 'Our problem is securing the 330 votes in favor'.

Brazil Agency - The federal government aims to secure 320 to 330 votes to approve the pension reform in the Chamber of Deputies within two months, said the re-elected president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), a short while ago. After meeting with the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, Maia said it is possible for the Chamber to approve the reform by May, and the Senate to approve it in June or July, if the allied base is well-organized.

"Our problem is to guarantee, within two months, that the pension reform has 320, 330 deputies in favor. This is the challenge, which we are starting to work on today," stated Maia. According to him, it is possible to ensure a fast passage for the pension reform without violating the rules of the Chamber of Deputies.

According to Maia, the start of the legislative session could speed up the processing of the pension reform. This is because, with more deputies beginning their terms in Brasília, there is a greater chance of having a quorum on Mondays and Fridays.

According to the Speaker of the House, if everything is well organized, the proposal could remain in the Constitution and Justice Committee for three weeks, with five sessions for the presentation of amendments and two more for requests for review. Following this, the text could go to the plenary session, where it should spend a maximum of 45 days if there is a concentrated effort that generates a quorum in 11 consecutive sessions.

Maia did not specify whether the government intends to use the text of the previous government's pension reform proposal, which is still being processed in the Chamber of Deputies. He said that this will depend on how the government handles the issue.

The Speaker of the House announced that, by the end of next week, he will meet with the governors of six states – Ceará, São Paulo, Piauí, Pernambuco, Goiás, and Mato Grosso – to request their support for the reform. "I intend to build a broad debate on Social Security. Without passions, without ideological discussions." He emphasized that he aims to secure the support of opposition governors from states facing financial difficulties and assured that the minority in the House will have their right to debate respected.

False information
According to Maia, the main challenge for the allied base during the processing of the pension reform will be to combat the dissemination of false information by categories of public servants. He said that he has not seen the text, but that he received reports from Guedes that the proposal seeks to preserve the rights of the poorest workers and ask the privileged classes to collaborate with the transition to reduce the deficit in Social Security, which totaled R$ 290,2 billion last year.

Maia recalled that the spread of false information was the main obstacle to the approval of the pension reform in the previous government. "The problem with the reform isn't the reform itself, it's the lies being spread about it. If Brazilians knew that those who retire at age 65 with a minimum wage, representing 70% of the General Regime [the regime for private sector workers], are financing those who retire at age 55 with R$28, perhaps Brazil would be facing a crisis in social relations, almost a civil war," added the Speaker of the House.

Regarding military pensions, Maia said he didn't know if they would be included in the proposal to be sent in the coming weeks or if the reform would be processed in a separate text. He stated, however, that he felt the Armed Forces were willing to cooperate with the reform.

"Since the return to democracy, the military has always been very generous in all the administrative reforms that Brazil has undertaken. It was the group that yielded the most over the last few years. I am certain that, because they are very well-prepared and know how to do the math very well, they know that without organizing the pension system, including their own, they will not have the guarantee of their retirements in the future," declared Maia.