Victory for contractors: Senate approves secrecy for World Cup construction projects.
Under pressure from the government's base, parliamentarians approve a differentiated hiring regime.
The Senate plenary approved tonight Provisional Measure 527, which establishes the Differentiated Contracting Regime (RDC) for the works of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The measure was approved with a wide margin of votes for the government, with 46 votes in favor against 18 against from the opposition.
The plenary approved the report by Senator Inácio Arruda (PcdoB-CE), which maintained the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies. One of the main changes made by the deputies was the guarantee of "permanent" access for oversight bodies (such as the Federal Court of Accounts, the Comptroller General of the Union, and the Public Prosecutor's Office) to the initial budgets for the construction of mega-sporting events.
Thus, the text of the provisional measure that will be sent to the president for approval maintains the confidentiality of the prices of the works during the bidding process to avoid collusion between competitors, but guarantees full access to the oversight bodies.
The provisional measure also removed the possibility for FIFA and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to demand changes to the construction projects for sporting events without limits on budget increases. For the leader of the PSDB party, Álvaro Dias (PR), the provisional measure "opens doors and windows for rampant corruption," allowing for the waiver of the requirement to present a basic project plan for the work to be tendered, permitting contract addenda, and proposing subjective criteria for selecting the winners. The opposition announced that it will file a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality against the provisional measure in the Supreme Federal Court (STF).