Brazil’s Congress approved on Tuesday – although with the Bolsonaristas voting against – the federal intervention of Brasilia decreed on Sunday by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva so that the State would assume security powers after the assault on the headquarters of the three branches of government.
The Senate has given the go-ahead this Tuesday to the measure decreed by President Lula with the vote against by some of Jair Bolsonaro’s associates, a day after the endorsement given by the Chamber of Deputies, where supporters of the former Brazilian president opted to leave before the vote.
«That anti-democratic minority does not represent the Brazilian people. This coup minority will not impose its will by means of barbarism, force and criminal acts», emphasized the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco.
«That extremist minority will be identified, investigated and held accountable, as well as its financiers, organizers and public agents willfully omitted,» said Pacheco, who asked not to forget what happened on Sunday.
The measure, approved in both chambers unanimously in a symbolic vote, will be in force until the end of January. «The people want respect for the law, the institutions and the public patrimony. The best answer we can give now is more democracy,» House Speaker Arthur Lira said Monday.
Although the measure had the unanimous support of the Chamber, some bolsonaristas, such as Liberal Party (PL) deputies Carla Zambelli and Bia Kicis, tried to postpone the vote with the argument of having more time to analyze the presidential decree.
For Kicis, the measure was not justified since the situation in Brasilia was already under control. «The Police tried to contain it, there were failures, but it is accurate to say that it was already under control,» he argued. The PL and the also liberal Partido Novo were the only two benches in the House that abstained from voting.
Although the federal intervention decree has the force of law as soon as it is signed by the president, it requires the approval of both chambers of Congress, which can authorize or reject the text without modifying it.
On Sunday, after the assault on the headquarters of the three branches of government, the Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered the temporary dismissal of the governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, as well as the Secretary of Security, Anderson Torres, for «omission» of their functions and «connivance» with the assailants.
The Brasilia authorities have been widely questioned for their management of the political crisis, criticizing the passivity with which they acted while the assault took place, among others, at the Planalto Palace.
The media have echoed videos that have spread on social networks in which several police officers are seen watching impassively as Bolsonaro’s followers rampaged through the streets. In one of them the agents are even seen allowing the assailants to enter the Congress headquarters.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
