IPS-English POLITICS-BRAZIL: No More Party-Hopping
 
Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:24:18 -0700

 
Fabiana Frayssinet

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 5  (IPS)  - A Brazilian Supreme Court decision
that legislators cannot switch parties during their term in office
-- a common practice in Brazil -- will pave the way for a newfound
political stability, as well as a reduction in the number of parties,
say analysts.

By a vote of eight to three, the Supreme Court decided late Thursday
that mandates belong to political parties, not individual legislators.

Observers described the ruling as ”historic.”

Since the current legislators took office in January, 45 have already
changed parties, and two of them have done so four times, political
analyst Andre Pereira at the CAC Consultoria consulting firm told
IPS.

Supreme Court Justice Celso de Mello stated in the ruling that the
practice is an ”inadmissible abuse” of the democratic system and exercise
of power.

”The change of allegiance without a reason hurts the representativity
of parties, is disrespectful of the electorate's votes, and is harmful
to the model of proportional representation,” according to the magistrate.

The ruling will apply only to deputies who changed parties after
Mar. 27, when the electoral authorities handed down a decision on
party loyalty. As a result, 16 members of the lower house of Congress,
who switched allegiance after that date, may lose their seats.

According to Pereira, the decision ”will bring greater coherence”
to Brazilian politics by generating ”a stronger ideological commitment.”

He said that legislators will now only be allowed to change their
party affiliation under certain circumstances, such as when a party
changes its ideological focus.

”Voters will now know that when they vote for candidates, they will
have to remain in the parties for which they were elected,” said Pereira.

The analyst said the most important political impact would be seen
in the question of cobbling together coalitions to achieve a majority
in Congress.

Under the current system, ”it is easy for the governing party to
draw parliamentarians or small parties into its ranks in exchange
for political favours like a promise to approve draft laws, political
appointments or government funding,” he said.

From now on, however, a party that starts out the term with a specific
number of deputies will continue to have that same number, which will
bring about greater political stability, said the analyst.

Pereira also pointed to other long-term effects on Brazilian politics,
such as a shrinking of the number of parties (there are currently
30), especially the tiny parties that have no chance of making it
to power and which have become, according to the analyst, ”a business
opportunity.”

These small parties, which have no clear ideological identity and
are often created ”merely to sell favours and the switching of allegiance
to the highest bidder” in the wake of elections, will now tend to
disappear as the incentives for founding such parties disappear, said
the analyst.

For now, the Supreme Court decision only applies to federal and provincial
deputies as well as town councillors, who are elected under a proportional
representation system.

But analyst Jairo Nicolau at the University Research Institute of
Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) says the measure may eventually be extended
to senators, mayors and governors, who are directly elected.

Nicolau pointed out that since democracy was restored in Brazil after
the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, the country's political system
has become a champion in party hopping.

”I don't know of any country where the changing of parties has become
so routine,” he said. ”It no longer even surprises anyone; it is seen
as totally normal,” he added, pointing out that even former presidents
had switched allegiance, like Itamar Franco, who changed his party
affiliation four times. 

By contrast, current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been
”almost an exception” of ”loyalty” to a single party -- the leftist
Workers Party (PT) -- throughout his political career.

”If we choose any two weeks at random, we can see that the correlation
of forces in Congress changes several times,” he said. ”I doubt that
of any 100 Brazilian political leaders, 20 have stayed in the party
where they began their careers.”

The analyst said the new situation will make the political panorama
more clear because the lineup of forces in Congress will no longer
change from one week to the next.

”This will furnish the political system with a stability that we
are not familiar with in Brazil,” he said, noting, for example, that
the number of allies and votes on which the government can count in
the Chamber of Deputies will now remain stable.

A ”historic” decision? ”Revolutionary?” 

”You choose the term,” he said.



(END/IPS/LA IP/TRASP-SW/FF/DM/07)


 
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