Brasília - Another Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) will begin work today. It is to investigate a payoff scheme in Congress (popularly known as the "mensalão" or "monthly allowance") in which the PT made monthly payments to members of other political parties so they would vote with the government. It is known as the Payoff CPI (CPI do mensalão).

The government and the opposition have not reached an agreement on how the commission should be run. The commission has two officials, a chairman and a redactor. The government wants the chairman to be a senator from the PMDB, and the redactor a PT deputy. The opposition wants the posts to be occupied by a PT deputy and a senator from the PSDB or PFL.

Translator: Allen Bennett