Brasília, September 2, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - "It was an extremely harsh punishment." This was the reaction voiced today by Federal Deputy Maria José (Maninha), (PT-DF), referring to the 60-day suspension imposed by the party's National Executive Committee on her and seven other federal deputies elected by the PT, because they abstained on the first and second rounds of voting on the Social Security Reform. Maninha said that the history of the PT contains no other punishment of these proportions, and she recalled that the deputies were given no right to self-defense. The Deputy informed that she and her seven colleagues will meet tomorrow to discuss a reduction of the punishment. In her view, the political act of abstaining on a vote does not warrant a punishment of these dimensions.

She emphasized that the group will not leave the party, and, on various questions, they support the Administration they helped elect. According to Maninha, on many occasions, the PT can hold positions at variance with those defended by the Administration, and vice-versa, and "agreement between the two sides will not always prevail." The punishment of 60 days, in her opinion, represents a suspension from the party bloc in Congress, not from the party itself, which means that "we who have been suspended cannot attend meetings of the bloc nor speak in its name. We continue affiliated with the PT." (DAS)