From the previous story, I felt this was worth repeating...
While the CPMF should breeze to approval in the Senate Tuesday and is widely expected to be finalized by March, analysts said the likely vote Wednesday in the lower house to increase civil servant contributions to their pensions will be the make-or-break Congress item of the week.
Later Tuesday, the lower house will vote on whether to include the pension vote on its agenda Wednesday.
Aecio Neves, the leader of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's Social Democrat Party (PSDB) in the lower house, said Tuesday that opposition-party members are trying to disrupt the voting process. He noted, however, that government-allies "have a sufficient number of votes" to ensure the pension measure is voted Wednesday, local Estado news agency reported.
This will be the fifth attempt by the government to pass the legislation, which increases contributions into the pension system by current civil workers and also extends such contributions to retired public workers.
Most recently in December, Congress stunned onlookers by voting down the measure, sending markets reeling and raising investor concerns that Brazil wasn't serious about reforms.
"Increased contributions (into the pension system) is a very important vote, because it goes to the core of the problem with social security," said Fator's Camargo, noting that the vote will test the strength of the government coalition in Congress.
"When the measure failed last month, it really marked the beginning of the crisis we're still facing," he added.
Once approved in the volatile lower house, the measure increasing civil servant contributions will move to the Senate, where the government has a clear majority.
Communications Minister Pimenta da Veiga, who serves as Cardoso's go-between with legislators, said Monday he had had talks with government-allied leaders in Congress and that a compromise with the opposition had been reached. He added that "it's sufficiently clear that (the government) will carry the vote".
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