Iolando Lourenço
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - In 62 pages, federal deputy Júlio Delgado (PSB-MG) set forth his arguments calling for the expulsion of deputy José Dirceu (PT-SP) for breach of parliamentary decorum. For the rapporteur of the case against Dirceu, there is evidence that the ex-presidential chief of staff was involved in a vote buying scheme to win legislative approval of projects backed by the federal government.

"The behavior of the ex-minister, whether as architect or organizer, managed to circumvent the routine of this House and influence its deliberations and voting," Delgado says in his report. "The rapporteurship considers insane the defense contention that funds were never raised to pay off legislators."

According to Delgado, data obtained when the bank accounts of firms belonging to advertising executive Marcos Valério de Souza were made public show that, between January and May of 2004, Valério transferred US$ 4.293 million (R$ 9.62 million) to the PT or individuals designated by the erstwhile party treasurer, Delúbio Soares. During this period, according to Delgado, "there were votes in Congress on temporary executive orders that were facing considerable resistence."

In Delgado's view, the federal government proposals that benefitted from vote buying were the temporary executive order hastening payment of the Contribution for Invasion of Economic Domain (Cide), the Biosecurity Law, which partially authorized the use of genetically modified seeds, and the temporary executive order that modified the Social Integration Program (PIS), the Civil Servants' Assistance Program (Pasep), and the Social Security Funding Contribution (Cofins).

Translation: David Silberstein