Chamber president creates group to discuss introduction of semi-presidentialism in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), on Thursday (17), created a working group to discuss the introduction of semi-presidentialism in Brazil.

In an act published in the Official Gazette of the Chamber of Deputies, the deputy established a committee to discuss and analyze issues related to the system of government in which the President would share his duties with a prime minister elected by Congress.

According to the release, the working group has 120 days to complete its analysis on the issue, possibly extending the work for the same period.

In the coming months, public hearings and meetings will be held with institutions and organizations of organized civil society and with experts, lawyers, and authorities specializing in this issue.

Among the proposal’s proponents are names such as the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and Justices Dias Toffoli and Luís Roberto Barroso of the Supreme Court (STF). President Jair Bolsonaro is critical of the proposal, calling it nonsensical.

The commission appointed by Lira is advised by an advisory board coordinated by former STF Minister Nelson Jobim and composed of names such as:

• former President of the Republic Michel Temer and
• former STF Minister Ellen Gracie,
• as well as Monica Caggiano (Ph.D. from the USP),
• Manoel Gonçalves Ferreira Filho (PhD and Professor Emeritus of USP),
• Nina Beatriz Stocco Ranieri (PhD of USP),
• Rodrigo de Bittencourt Mudrovich (PhD of USP),
• Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida, (PhD of USP),
• Jorge Octávio Lavocat Galvão (Federal Prosecutor and PhD of USP) and
• Elival da Silva Ramos (PhD of USP)

Under Moreira’s proposal, which envisions introducing a new system of government in the country, the President of the Republic would retain some of his powers and appoint a Prime Minister, who would need the approval of Congress to take office. Ministers of state would report to the prime minister.