Congress enacts end of coalitions and barrier clause.
The National Congress enacted on Wednesday, the 4th, the constitutional amendment that prohibits party coalitions in proportional elections and establishes rules on access by political parties to resources from the party fund and to free airtime on radio and television; according to the new constitutional text, the electoral performance clauses will be valid starting with next year's elections. The amendment also ends coalitions for proportional elections for deputies and councilors, in this case starting with the 2020 elections.
Senate Agency - In a solemn session on the afternoon of this Wednesday (4), the National Congress enacted the constitutional amendment that prohibits party coalitions in proportional elections and establishes rules on access by political parties to resources from the party fund and to free advertising time on radio and television. The amendment (EC 97/2017) is a result of the proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC 33/2017), approved in the Senate on Tuesday night (3).
The text of the amendment was read by Senator José Pimentel (PT-CE), First Secretary of the Senate. The President of Congress, Eunício Oliveira, presided over the ceremony and highlighted the significant vote the matter received in the Senate Plenary, where it was unanimously approved. According to the president, the change promoted by the PEC stems from a national demand that goes beyond electoral issues and touches on matters of ethics and transparency.
"This measure represents Congress's commitment to improving the electoral process," Eunício stated.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, who was on leave from his position. He was the rapporteur for the proposed constitutional amendment in the first round, before assuming his ministerial post. In the second round, Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) acted as rapporteur. Also present was Representative Shéridan (PSDB-RR), the rapporteur for the matter in the Chamber of Deputies.
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According to the new constitutional text, the electoral performance clauses will be valid starting with next year's elections. The amendment also ends coalitions for proportional elections for deputies and councilors, in this case starting with the 2020 elections.
To restrict parties' access to resources from the Party Fund and to radio and TV airtime, the proposal creates a kind of performance clause. Only parties that received at least 1,5% of the valid votes in the 2018 elections for the Chamber of Deputies, distributed across at least 1/3 of the federative units (9 units), with a minimum of 1% of the valid votes in each of them, will be entitled to the fund and advertising time starting in 2019. The rules will become increasingly stringent, with progressively stricter requirements until 2030.
Starting with the 2020 elections, parties will no longer be able to form coalitions to compete for seats for city councilors and representatives (federal, state, and district). For 2018, coalitions are permitted. The intention is to end the so-called "Tiririca effect," whereby the strong showing of one candidate helps elect others from the group of parties that have joined together.