Releasing amendments "is a disguised monthly allowance"

PE247 - President Dilma Rousseff's (PT) decision to release R$ 6 billion in parliamentary amendments by October as a way to ease the tense atmosphere in the National Congress and prevent the overturning of presidential vetoes on projects considered strategic, led the former national president of the PSDB and current president of the party in Pernambuco, Federal Deputy Sérgio Guerra, to describe the initiative as "a disguised mensalão" (a political corruption scandal). According to the PSDB congressman, the measure is nothing more than a disguised mechanism for buying parliamentary support.

"Deputies receive a salary. This proposal is equivalent to a disguised monthly allowance scandal," the PSDB deputy exclaimed in an interview with Rádio Folha FM. Currently, each member of parliament has the right to allocate parliamentary amendments totaling up to R$ 13 million annually for actions to be carried out by the Federal Government.

The congressman also stressed that the possible approval of the mandatory budget bill, which obliges the release of amendments by the Federal Government, could create the impression that certain works are the property of the amendment author and not an action of the Union. But, according to Guerra, since the release of parliamentary amendments is not currently mandatory, the government uses this expedient according to its own interest.

The proposal for the mandatory budget is expected to be voted on in the special committee dealing with the issue on the 6th and to go to the plenary session on the 7th. According to the government, the mandatory nature of the measure could freeze the General Budget of the Union.