Contrary to the government, the Minister of Social Security says he is in favor of the INSS CPMI

The Minister of Social Security, Wolney Queiroz, said he was personally in favor of establishing a Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) to determine responsibility for the billion-dollar fraud resulting from the so-called associative discounts on the payroll of INSS retirees and pensioners.

The minister made the statement during a hearing at the Senate's Oversight and Control Committee, this Thursday (15), when questioned by Senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN) about his position regarding the CPMI.

“Personally, I am in favor of the CPMI because I believe that society deserves this response from parliament,” said the minister. Despite his favorable stance towards the CPMI, Wolney made a reservation and said he feared that “the CPMI could become a political stage” and delay compensation to victims or hinder investigations.

Before the minister, the PT leader in the Senate, Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE), expressed his support for the establishment of the INSS CPMI.

The positions of the two contrast with the stance of the Lula government, which has acted to block the establishment of any parliamentary committee that would like to investigate fraud at the INSS.

Government acts to prevent CPMI

At the beginning of the month, in a meeting with leaders of the government base, the Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, asked for support to block the opposition's attempt to create a CPMI to investigate the deviations.

During the last day of his international trip to Russia, on May 10, President Lula said he was in no rush to investigate fraud at the INSS and blamed the Bolsonaro government for the scandal.

Two days later, Congressman José Guimarães (PT-CE), leader of the Lula government in the Chamber of Deputies, ruled out the possibility of establishing a CPMI to investigate the embezzlement of funds at the INSS. According to Guimarães, talking about a CPMI at the INSS at this time is a “factoid”.

Opposition files CPMI request in the Senate

On the 12th, Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) filed a request to open a CPMI to investigate responsibility for the billion-dollar fraud at the National Institute of Social Security (INSS).

The request has the support of 223 federal deputies and 34 senators. In the case of CPMI, the signatures of 171 deputies and 27 senators are required. "Much more than necessary for the CPMI to be accepted," said Damares in a live with deputy Coronel Fernanda (PL-MT) on Instagram.

CPI request is stalled in the Chamber

In the Chamber, opposition deputies have already filed a request for a CPI to investigate the embezzlement of funds at the INSS, but the president of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), indicated that he will respect the queue formed by 12 inquiry committees. This position practically makes the establishment of the INSS CPI impossible at this time.

Without any positive signal from Motta, the opposition changed its strategy and began to move towards the creation of a CPMI, with deputies and senators. In the case of the joint committee, the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) simply needs to read the request for the creation of the committee in the plenary.

On the other hand, parliamentarians can withdraw their support for the CPMI at any time, which gives the government room to negotiate with parliamentarians.