Brazil: Temer convenes deputies to discuss lower house voting strategy

With the purpose of setting the government's strategy for passing a constitution amendment bill that will limit government spending for 20 years, President Michel Temer hosted a dinner meeting for his allies in the Chamber of Deputies on Sunday evening.

Dubbed the “New Fiscal Regime”, the austerity proposal limits over-the-year increases in budgeted government expenditures to no more than the previous year's inflation rate.

The draft was approved by a special committee of the lower house on Thursday (Oct. 6), and the government hopes to see it voted on the house floor this Monday, expecting that the 308 votes required to approve the bill in the first round of voting will be exceeded.

“We are confident,” said André Moura, government leader at the Chamber of Deputies.

He rebutted the Prosecutor-General's Office's allegations that that bill was unconstitutional and would impair the activities of the judicial establishment handling “important law enforcement issues for the society, including anti-corruption activities and crime enforcement.”

According to the government leader, the proposal is in line with the house rules and allows “everyone to make their contribution”.

Translated by Mayra Borges