Brasília, 2/10/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - This is the last week of the extraordinary session of Congress and so far not one bill has received final approval in either the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate.

The main reason for convoking Congress for the extraordinary session was to get approval for the so-called parallel constitutional amendment on Social Security, known as the "PEC paralela." It did get a favorable vote in one Chamber commission, but that's as far as it got. In order to get to a floor vote it still has to get another special commission vote, which is going to be difficult (the session ends on this Friday, February 13). There are an additional 15 bills on the extraordinary session calendar but none of them are expected to get final approval either. (AB)