Mayor vetoes 98 amendments, and council members protest.
Paulo Garcia rejected amendments from city councilors to the 2013 municipal budget; the council upheld the decision by a vote of 21 to 6; Célia Valadão, a member of the ruling coalition, thanked her colleagues for their "understanding." Virmondes was indignant: "What kind of democracy is this?"; Elias Vaz said the budget has become a work of fiction.
Goiás 247_ The Goiânia City Council is more than busy at the start of this legislative term. Each session brings a new controversy, and Mayor Paulo Garcia (PT) is almost always involved. The crisis this Wednesday, the 27th, was due to the mayor's veto of practically all the amendments presented by the council members to the 2013 Budget.
Only two amendments out of 100 were not vetoed. And the House also upheld Paulo Garcia's vetoes by a vote of 21 to 6. The mayor's leader in the House, Célia Valadão (PMDB), thanked her colleagues for their "understanding".
Other council members disagreed with the decision and criticized it. “I don’t understand legislative power in Brazil. It should, and has the authority to approve the budget law, the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) and the PPA (Multi-Year Plan), to determine where to allocate resources. But we give the mayor the power to reallocate funds, and the budget becomes a work of fiction, because the mayor does whatever he wants,” lamented councilman Elias Vaz (PSol). “This is not a republican relationship. We have the prerogative to vote on where the resources will go,” added Elias.
Councilman Virmondes Cruvinel (PSD) also issued a warning to his colleagues. “Think before selling your mandate and your conscience in exchange for two or three positions in the Goiânia city hall. Don't forget the huge number of votes you received.”
Even councilman Paulo Magalhães (PV), who is part of Paulo Garcia's allied base, acknowledged the seriousness of the matter: "We're going to have a meeting to talk about this."
Virmondes also posted an indignant comment on his Facebook page: “We are now witnessing a sad moment as the city hall rejected ALL the budget amendments presented by the councilors. What kind of democracy is this? Several requests for works and actions throughout Goiânia may be jeopardized.”