New Congress is socially conservative and economically liberal, say analysts

The new Congress members who took oath of office on Sunday (Feb. 1st) reflect a sparse partisan makeup resulting in an economically liberal, socially conservative, and human-rights retrograde legislature, besides being “dangerous” to environmental policies, the Inter Parliamentary Advisory Department said in its study called “Radiografia do Novo Congresso” (“The New Legislative Profile”, loosely translated).

According to the study, with 46.78% of the total deputies replaced, and 81.48% of the seats covered by the latest General Election – one third of the Senate, or 27 seats – changing hands, there was a reshuffle with politicians coming from other government areas – whether in the Executive branch as former governors, mayors, or secretaries, or in the Legislative branch as former state legislators, senators, and city councilors.

Elected congress members who had never held office as government members or civil servants before are mostly millionaires or affluent people, religious (especially Protestant or Neo-Pentecostal) leaders, police officers and sensationalist news TV hosts, celebrities, and relatives of politicians with broad media exposure, according to the study.

According to DIAP, the number of labor rights-minded legislators has declined significantly. Until last year, 83 Congress members supported workers' agendas, whereas the new legislature has only 50 deputies and nine senators with this profile. Moreover, while the business sector has lost some ground, it still retain the largest representation. Among new and re-elected members, 250 of the sworn-in deputies and senators are advocates of the productive sector. “Having lost a significant part of their supporters on the one hand, and facing employer pressure on the other, even if the working class can rely on the government, this will have to overcome the resistance imposed by the new balance of political forces,” the document read.

According to DIAP, a reduced worker representativeness, an increased business-minded leadership, and resistance to social programs such as (especially racial) quota policies and the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program, the newly inaugurated Congress is definitely more conservative now. From an economic perspective, conversely, it has become more liberal. There was also an increase in the presence of representatives with “perfect market” views on the economy, who oppose all interference by the government whether as a regulator or as a producer and supplier of goods or services.

The study describes the new Congress as retrograde when it comes to human rights, with many important advocates failing to be re-elected and more than a hundred religious (especially Protestant) leaders and radical police force supporters elected. Moreover, environmentalists are also less numerous than before compared to a larger number of farmer and rancher representatives, notably in agribusiness.

The governing coalition in Congress has waned slightly both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate as the PSB and PTB parties withdrew their support whilst the opposition grew. DIAP expects that President Rousseff's political clout may be dictated by the Congress's willingness to support her agenda, especially on the part of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate pro tempore presidents. “The 2014 elections resulted in a stronger and more joined-up opposition, which took to imposing greater resistance to president Rouseff's government – and she was re-elected by only a narrow margin. In a scenario like this, losing hold over the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate could be disastrous,” the study said.

Translated by Mayra Borges

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