Renan warns about the "size of institutions"

Marcos Chagas
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Brasilia – The refusal to read two provisional measures in a Senate session, which prevented the approval of the matters by the Legislature, in no way signifies an action by the PMDB to hinder the forwarding of government priorities that depend on analysis by deputies and senators. This assessment comes from the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL). He said that President Dilma Rousseff knows she has his "unconditional support."

Renan Calheiros refused to read, yesterday (28), Provisional Measures 605 and 606, approved by the Chamber. Both will lose their validity period and their practical effects from the date of publication as of June 3.

"The constitutional role of the Senate is to support the president [Dilma Rousseff] in matters of national interest. The president knows she has my unconditional support," said Calheiros.

To enable the voting on the Ports Provisional Measure in the Senate on May 16, he made a commitment to the senators that he would not put on the agenda any provisional measure that arrived from the Chamber of Deputies with less than seven days remaining before its expiration date.

In an attempt to calm the tempers of parliamentarians who challenged his decision to put the Ports Provisional Measure on the agenda, the Senate president argued that it was an "exceptional" situation. He encouraged the Chamber of Deputies to expedite the voting on a proposed constitutional amendment (PEC) that redefines the processing times for provisional measures in both Houses.

"I made a point of indicating the path to the solution. The people who are close to the president [Dilma Rousseff] need to have some understanding of how the institutions work," Renan Calheiros emphasized.

Edited by: José Romildo