Despite President Michel Temer’s best efforts, Brazil’s social security-linked pension reform still cannot seem to gain enough Congressional support.
According to Reuters, Minister Carlos Marun told business executives Thursday that “many” lawmakers were on the fence about approving Temer’s proposal, which looks to increase retirement and social security collection ages as a measure to curb the country’s ever-growing budget deficit.
To pass, the bill would need to be approved twice by a three-fifths super majority in each of Brazil’s two chambers, the Federal Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house). This would require at least 308 votes from the lower house’s 513 members, scheduled to take the first vote in the week of February 19.
Marun had told reporters Tuesday that nearly 270 votes were locked in and that the government was taking suggestions to improve the controversial bill.
The top priority of Temer’s administration, the bill has had a tumultuous time. Temer, who has been making a litany of public television appearances while his administration has been doing various radio and television marketing to drive the message home, had initially hoped it would pass last year, but it was pushed back by a corruption scandal, surgery, and an overall lack of support from the government. In addition, 2018 is an election year, which adds even more difficulty as attention is elsewhere.
Temer is not running for reelection come October. According to Reuters, in a survey by pollster Dastafolha, a whopping 70% of Brazilians cited their displeasure of his administration.
Tags: Brazil, Michel Temer, Pension, Pension Reform