Humberto: society did not approve Temer's privatizations.
The leader of the Dilma government in the Senate, Humberto Costa (PE), criticized on Tuesday, March 31st, Provisional Measure 727/16 of interim president Michel Temer, which encourages the sale of federal government companies; "It is necessary to be very careful when talking about privatization. We lived through a period in which we lost many public companies to the private sector during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's time," said Humberto; "This unelected president cannot go around selling what is ours. At no point has anything about this subject been raised, we will not let this happen."
Red Portal - Brazil is at great risk of suffering an avalanche of privatizations in the coming months under the interim government of Michel Temer. This assessment comes from Senator Humberto Costa (PT). The interim president published Provisional Measure (MP) number 727/16 on May 12th, the same day he took office, which aims to encourage infrastructure projects carried out through public-private partnerships (PPPs) or concessions, as well as the sale of federal government companies.
"We need to be very careful when talking about privatization. We lived through a period in which we lost many public companies to the private sector during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's time," Humberto recalled.
The congressman also warned that society has never endorsed this type of action. "This unelected president cannot go around selling what is ours. At no point has anything about this matter been raised, we will not let this happen," he stated.
The Provisional Measure changes the rules of three instruments already available to the Federal Government to carry out and grant concessions for public works or even the sale of state-owned companies. According to the Workers' Party member, the previous law was much more rigid and protected Brazilian public capital. Among the changes in the Provisional Measure, one can highlight the obligation for government agencies to expedite environmental licenses or those of IPHAN (National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage), which assesses the implications for historical heritage.
Perhaps the biggest change is the one that alters the criteria for granting concessions. Under Dilma's government, the "lowest tariff" criterion was adopted. The winning company would be the one that offered the lowest tariff.
"Temer's Provisional Measure will adopt the concept of 'appropriate tariff,' opening up a significant risk of subjectivity in the selection of the winning company for the concession. This harms not only the users of the project but also creates loopholes for corruption, such as the payment of potential bribes," he reported.
According to Humberto, Temer's initial idea is to work on opening up the capital of the Post Office and the Mint. Also on the list are Infraero, assets of the Port Authority, Caixa Seguros, and the Brazilian Reinsurance Institute (IRB). In addition, the interim government is expected to put approximately 230 institutions across the country on the waiting list for the sale of stakes in federal government companies.