"Now the judiciary decides what we have to vote on."
The president of the Senate's Human Rights and Participatory Legislation Committee, Paulo Paim (PT-RS), protests that the Supreme Federal Court, presided over by Joaquim Barbosa, sends "ready-made dishes" to Congress. "I'm not saying that the Supreme Court isn't the final instance, but there also needs to be greater dialogue between the three branches of government," the senator states.
247 - The president of the Senate's Human Rights and Participatory Legislation Committee, Paulo Paim (PT-RS), stated that Congress needs to "adopt a more sovereign and independent stance" in 2013 and attacked what he calls a "war" between the Legislative and Judicial branches. According to him, the Judiciary "decides what we have to vote on or not" and, when it decides there, "sends us the finished product."
"There is much to be done [in 2013], and all that is needed is for Congress to adopt a more sovereign and independent stance," declared Paim. According to him, the impasse "with the judiciary has turned into a war, and now the judiciary decides what we have to vote on or not, and at the same time, when it decides there, it sends us the finished product."
The parliamentarian emphasizes, however, that more dialogue between the branches of government is necessary. "I'm not saying that the Supreme Court isn't the final instance, of course it is the final instance, but there also needs to be more dialogue between the three branches of government. So everything indicates that 2013 will be a very complicated year, very difficult, especially because the power struggle is already there, let's say, on the other side of the street, which is 2014."
Voting throughout the year
The senator stated that the expectation for 2013 is that the National Congress will conclude the voting on the Chamber of Deputies' bill that criminalizes prejudice, both that motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity. Paim also defended the voting on the proposal that deals with the end of the social security factor, the Political Reform, the distribution of oil royalties, as well as the issue of the new federal pact and the Tax Reform.
"The bill [that criminalizes prejudice] has been in the House for six years and hasn't been voted on. Why? Because the rapporteurs themselves ask that it not be voted on because it would fail, and that's how Senator Marta Suplicy herself, in defense of her position, asked that it not be voted on." According to him, the attempt to vote on it in 2013 will be linked to "dialogue with all sectors" and the construction of "a text that combats homophobia."
With information from the PT (Workers' Party).