While President Jair Bolsonaro says he intends to veto the bill that legalizes gambling in Brazil, other leading pre-candidates for the Presidency of the Republic avoid taking an incisive position on the subject. In addition, they face a problem similar to that of Bolsonaro, who saw part of his base vote in favor of the proposal, approved last week by the Chamber of Deputies. The Podemos party, led by Sergio Moro; the PDT, by Ciro Gomes; and the PSDB, by João Doria, split in the vote.
The text releases activities such as casinos, bingos, video bingos, jogo do bicho, horse racing betting online gaming in Brazil. Pressured by the evangelical bench, Bolsonaro said last week that he would veto the initiative and that he “did what he could” to defeat it in Plenary. Despite this, allies of the president who oppose the measure say there was no effort from the government to prevent its approval. The PP, led by the government leader deputy Ricardo Barros (PR), voted overwhelmingly in favor of the project (34 to 1).
At the other end, the PT cast 35 votes against the project and none in favor — 18 party deputies did not speak out. Sought, the communication of the pre-campaign of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva forwarded the issue to the national directory, which forwarded it to the leadership in the Chamber, in charge of deputy Reginaldo Lopes (MG).
He said he had talked about the matter with the president of the party, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), but not with Lula. For Lopes, without control mechanisms, the legalization of gambling could open space for tax evasion and money laundering, and be harmful to betting addicts. He also considers the taxes on the activity low.
"It is a debate that is not mature in society. Despite the project being processed for 30 years, it had never been ruled on," he said.
Lula already banned bingos
When he was president, Lula banned, in February 2004, the operation of bingos and slot machines, in the wake of the dissemination of a video in which the then advisor to the Civil House Waldomiro Diniz asked for a bribe from a businessman in the gaming industry.
The pre-candidate of Podemos, Sergio Moro, has also avoided taking a position on the legalization of gaming. As Minister of Justice in the government of Jair Bolsonaro, he signaled that he was against the endorsement when he discussed the matter with parliamentarians and interlocutors.
In search of nods to leaders and faithful of evangelical churches, in an attempt to attract voters frustrated with Bolsonaro in the segment, Moro even evaluated the inclusion, in a letter to pastors, of a position against gaming. The document, however, did not address the issue explicitly.
In the PDT, run by the presidential candidate Ciro Gomes, the majority of parliamentarians (15) were in favor of releasing the activity. The bench from Ceará, Ciro's stronghold, was mostly in favor, but was also part of the ten votes against. Wanted, he did not manifest. The party's president, Carlos Lupi, says that the topic is not the subject of internal discussion in the party and that it was not discussed with Ciro.
"This is a question of customs, each one votes as he wants. There is no ideological question. We have never examined this matter in depth (with Ciro)," stated Lupi.
The governor of São Paulo, João Doria, is another presidential candidate who avoided taking a position. His press office recommended talking to Bruno Araújo, president of the PSDB and coordinator of the pre-campaign to Palácio do Planalto. The latter, in turn, passed the demand on to Rodrigo Maia, who should coordinate Doria's program. State Secretary of Tourism, Vinicius Lummertz has already defended a model of gaming.
Most of those from Tucano (15 against 11), in the state of Bahia, were in favor of legalization, including three from São Paulo.
Source: Guilherme Caetano / O Globo
(With collaboration of Bernardo Mello and Sérgio Roxo)
