Marcela Rebelo
Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – The president of the Congress, senator Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), following a meeting with the leaders of political parties, declared that the Senate will approve an emergency political reform bill by August 22.

The bill, authored by senator Jorge Bornhausen (PFL-SC), puts an end to "showmicios" (political rallies with pop stars), establishes rules for the use of free time on radio and TV (only the candidate can appear, along with the party logo, his name and a jingle) and makes it mandatory for campaign accounts to be made public on the internet.

"We want to reduce the costs. Make it less sophisticated and cheaper. If we cut the externals and the hype, we can cut costs in half," says Jose Agripino Maia (PFL-RN).

Translator: Allen Bennett