Brasília, January 13, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The National Congress (Senate and Chamber of Deputies) was called into special session for the period from January 19 to February 13. The regular legislative session begins two days later, on February 15. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's convocation message, dated January 9 (Friday), was published in yesterday's (12) Official Federal Government Daily.
The agenda for the special session includes proposals for voting by the National Congress, such as the PPA (Pluriannual Plan) for 2004-2008; by the Chamber of Deputies, such as the parallel Constitutional Amendment proposal for Social Security Reform; and by the Senate, such as Judicial Reform and the Bankrupcy Law, among others. By force of Article 57 of the Constitution, provisional executive orders under separate consideration in the Senate and the Chamber automatically become part of the agenda of the special session, among them, the one that covers the model for the electric energy sector.
Among other items proposed by the President, in common accord with party leaders and the presidents of the Senate, José Sarney (PMDB-AP), and the Chamber, João Paulo Cunha (PT-SP), the agenda also includes projects such as the creation of Public-Private Parterships (PPP), protection of the Atlantic Rain Forest, part of the Tax Reform Amendment (the modifications made by the Senate in the bill approved by the Chamber need to be voted again in two rounds in the Chamber), and the Biosecurity Law, which deals with the cultivation and commercialization of transgenic plants.
During the 26-day period of the special session, according to a study by the directorate of the Chamber, around R$ 15 million will be spent just to pay the extra salaries for the 513 deputies and 81 senators (who will receive their normal salaries plus two extra ones to compensate them for the special session), as well as a 30% bonus for legislative employees and the operating expenses of the two houses of the National Congress.
The president of the Chamber, João Paulo Cunha, who has been opposed to the convocation of a special session (which he considers "a scandal") ever since the possibilibity was first announced, has already declared that the period of the special session will not be sufficient for a complete vote on the parallel Constitutional Amendment for Social Security Reform; rather, it will only be enough to begin discussions in the special commission. For the leaders of the government's support base, however, even if the voting is not concluded, the period of the special session will count as time to speed up the calendar for voting the bill in two rounds, in the assessment of the government's Congressional leader, Senator Amir Lando (PMDB-GO). (DAS)
