Brazilian House Refuses to Expel Congressman Considered Guilty by Ethics Committee

Last night the Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies rejected the expulsion of deputy Romeu Queiroz from the PTB party of Minas Gerais state for supposed involvement in a congressional payment scheme known in the press as "mensalão" or "big monthly allowance."

The vote on the expulsion of Queiroz, which was recommended by the Ethics Council, was the first of a deputy who received money from Marcos Valério, who was supposedly the moneyman in the payment scheme.

Queiroz reportedly received US$ 198,000 (450,000 reais). With 443 deputies casting ballots in a secret vote, Queiroz got 250 votes against his expulsion and 193 in favor of expulsion. 257 votes were necessary to expel him.

Deputy Júlio Delgado, from Minas Gerais’s PSB party. declared that other deputies accused of participation in the Marcos Valério payment scheme will seek to use the Queiroz vote as a precedent, allowing them to get off the hook.

Meanwhile, deputy Chico Alencar from the Rio de Janeiro P-SOL said that the vote showed there was no political will to punish anyone else. Only deputies Roberto Jefferson (the whistleblower) and José Dirceu (the former Lula chief of staff who made lots of enemies in Congress) have been expelled.

"With this vote the Congress is more distant than ever from recovering the respect of Brazilian society," he said.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil’s Amazon Residents Learn Sustainable Fishing

Beginning in 2006, Brazil’s sustainable pirarucu management project will be extended to all Amazon ...

Brazilians in a New Jersey street festival

If I Were Brazilian I Might Also Become an Illegal in the US

I travel to Brazil often on business and most of my travels are in ...

Brazil’s Petrobras Wins 10 Bids to Prospect Oil in the US

Petrobras America, the Brazilian state enterprise’s subsidiary in the United States, knocked down ten ...

Brazilian Economic Activity Goes Down 1.2%

In Brazil, economic activity has dropped in the second quarter this year. According to ...

Exploring the Intimacy of Palestine Refugees in Brazil

Stela Grisotti and Paschoal Samora packed their bags and traveled to Jordan to spend ...

Brazil President Wants Oil Money to Fight Poverty and Improve Education

Brazil's President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, used event in Vitória, capital of the ...

Brazil’s Lula Promises No Stone Unturned in Corruption Probe

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised Monday that in the fight against ...

Steel Production and Foreign Sales Fall in Brazil

Even though Brazil registered a 12.4% drop in the production of crude steel during ...

Swiss JetBird Orders Up to 100 Jets from Brazil’s Embraer

Embraer announced that Geneva-based JetBird has acquired 50 Phenom 100 jets and has placed ...

For Brazil’s Minas State, Arabs Mean Big Business

Bilateral trade between the Arab countries and the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (known ...