Motta reacts to the invasion of the plenary, suggests “pedagogical” punishment and rules out amnesty

The president of the House of Representatives, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), said on Friday (8) that the occupation of his chair by opposition parliamentarians was a “serious act” and should result in a “pedagogical” response to prevent similar situations from repeating.

In an interview with CNN Brazilthe deputy declared that the opposition “extrapolated all limits” and will not negotiate guidelines as a counterpart for the resumption of the operation of the house.

“It would be a very serious precedent. Just go there, sit on the table and say that it only comes out when you vote for the agenda that party wants. This is not acceptable,” Motta said, noting that the college of leaders is the appropriate space to define voting and that the mayor acts as a referee, without privileging specific topics.

The mayor said he understood the tension of the moment, but assessed that the action of the opposition impairs the articulation of guidelines that could be supported by center parties. He also mentioned that the use of the police force was avoided to prevent incidents, citing the case of Mrs Julia Zanatta (PL-SC), who was accompanied by a 4-month-old baby.

According to Motta, several parliamentarians acted as mediators to end the occupation, including Arthur Lira (PP-AL), former president of the House, and leaders such as Dr. Luizinho (PP-RJ), Isnaldo Bulhões (MDB-AL), Elmar Nascimento (Union-BA), Altineu Côrtes (PL-RJ), Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) and Renildo Calheiros (PCdoB-PE).

“We had many firefighters who helped resume the normality of the work,” he said.

Amaten amnesty

Regarding the possibility of amnesty to convicted of the acts of January 8, 2023, Motta stated that there is no mood in the House for a “wide, general and unrestricted” measure, especially in the face of investigations that pointed to plans for murder of authorities.

“The feeling of the house is much more of sensitivity to humble people, who participated in the movement and did not commit such serious offenses,” he said. He defended the search for legislative alternatives to review penalties considered excessive in cases of less seriousness, but stressed that crimes such as death planning should not be forgiven.

Relationship with the Supreme Court

Motta also criticized what he called “imbalance” in the relationship between the powers, citing decisions of the Federal Supreme Court that nullify laws passed by a large majority in Congress from actions of low representation parties.

“This bothers a lot, because, in my assessment, there is even an imbalance of respect for independence between the powers,” he said. For him, it is necessary to discuss criteria to provoke the court, preserving the protagonism of the legislature without transforming the debate into institutional attack.

The mayor stressed that guidelines for strengthening parliamentary prerogatives should not be seen as offensive to other powers. “Do not count on this presidency to assault executive and judiciary,” he said.

Next Steps

Motta confirmed that there will be no agenda agreement with the opposition and that the legislative agenda will be discussed at a meeting of leaders next Tuesday (12). He also stated that he will not treat Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) differently from the other parliamentarians, noting that the exercise of the mandate from abroad is not foreseen in the Internal Regulations.

“What happened was serious. There must be a feeling of unity between Chamber and Senate about what will be done, and we need to talk to executive and judiciary to resume institutional peace,” he concluded.

(With information from Estadão Content)