Brazil Senate approves pension reform in first-round vote
Brazil’s Senate approved the main text of a pension reform bill in a first-round vote on Tuesday, clearing another key hurdle for the government’s bid to narrow its massive budget gap.
The main text passed with a vote of 56 in favor – a comfortable margin above the 49 votes required – with 19 opposed and one abstention. Only 76 of 81 senators were present.
The Senate is expected to consider amendments to the bill on Wednesday before it heads to a second-round vote. Because the bill amends the country’s constitution, a second vote is required.
But the head of President Jair Bolsonaro’s political party in the Senate, Senator Major Olimpio, warned that the second vote on pension reform, scheduled for next week, may not take place if the government reneges on promises made to lawmakers in return for their support.
Olimpio told reporters that the majority view among senators at a meeting in Brasilia earlier on Tuesday is that the government must meet their demands if its main economic reform legislation of the year is to be enacted on schedule.
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