Brasília, March 10, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In view of the adamancy of the president of the Senate, José Sarney (PMDB/AP), who refused to nominate the members of the Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) on bingo games who would otherwise be nominated by party leaders, the opposition presented two appeals, yesterday (9), to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) to try to guarantee the installation of the CPI.
The leader of the PSDB, Arthur Virgílio Neto (AM), questioned the constitutionality of Senator Sarney's omission, on the basis of the Constitutional right of minorities to conduct CPI's to investigate the government. Virgílio admitted that his appeal will be overturned in the CCJ and even on the Senate floor itself, given the Government's voting majority. Nevertheless, the leader warned that he will take the matter as far as the Supreme Court (STF), if necessary, to assure that the CPI be installed.
His main argument is that, without a CPI, the opposition is deprived of instruments to monitor those in power. "The moment they officially silence CPI's to investigate the king -- I don't say this king, because I trust President Lula's honesty -- but, if they do this, the future king will be able to loot the country," he alerted.
Senator Eduardo Siqueira Campos (PSDB/TO), second vice-president of the Senate, came to Sarney's defense. With the by-laws of the Senate and the Congress in hand, Siqueira Campos endorsed Sarney's position that the nominations can only be made by party leaders, never by the president of the Senate. The Senator from Tocantins also submitted an appeal to the CCJ to question the constitutionality of the CPI. "If the CCJ says that there exists a definite fact, then we shall install the CPI. But this story about not installing it because the leaders failed to nominate members doesn't hold water," he affirmed.
The discussion over the CPI lasted over three hours and delayed voting on the separate items of the Provisional Measure on the Electric Energy Sector. Everything began when Senator Magno Malta (PL/ES), author of the CPI on bingo games, used the speaker's dais to respond to the attacks of government allies. Malta refuted criticisms made by Deputy Antônio Carlos Biscaia (PT/RJ), who called him "unworthy," because of the negotiations over the CPI, and Senator Ideli Salvatti (PT/SC), who said last week that Malta wanted "something" in return for not presenting the CPI to the Senate.
Malta also ãnswered Senator Tião Viana (PT/AC), who claimed that he had withdrawn his name from the petition to install the CPI, because he was "disgusted" with the process.
"I don't deserve to be called a criminal, a bandit. Before I filed the petititon, I was a saint, and the next day I became a bandit, masked and indecent. That isn't fair," he protested. Malta reiterated that he never bargained posts with the government in exchange for the CPI. To avoid embarrassing the PL [the Liberal Party, to which he belongs], he put his name at the party's disposal, and, in tears, he assured that he has no connections with lawbreakers. "I have no ties to organized crime. If they prove anything, I renounce my mandate," he guaranteed.
The opposition took advantage of Malta's remarks to launch a series of new speeches in defense of the CPI. Some lawmakers also rallied to the defense of Malta himself. This was the case of Jefferson Peres (AM), leader of the PDT in the Senate. The Senator from Amazonas suggested that his colleague from Espírito Santo demand a personal investigation in the Ethics Council in order to repudiate the accusations of "half ethical" and "unworthy" made by Senator Ideli and Deputy Biscaia. Malta accepted the suggestion and informed that he will file a request in the coming days. (DAS)
