The proposal releases gaming verticals like bingos and casinos, and gained another supporter within the government with the appointment of Celso Sabino (União-PA) to the Ministry of Tourism. The substitute for Daniela Carneiro (União-RJ) said, in an interview with news outlet Globo, that the project favors the tourism sector and commented that “the majority of the government” with whom he spoke is favorable to the initiative.
Alckmin, who is also Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, received, in early July, Mor Weizer, from Playtech, a company that develops games used in casinos. The meeting was promoted by the leader of the PSB in the House, Felipe Carreras (PE), who was the rapporteur of the text approved by the House.
"He (Alckmin) did not go into any detail (at the meeting), but he is in favor of the topic. He said that he always was. Even when he was a candidate for president," said Carreras.
The project is of interest to the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), a close ally of Sabino and Carreras. It also has the support of the president of the PP, senator Ciro Nogueira (PI), but faces resistance from the evangelical bench.
In May, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), forwarded the project to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), which is headed by Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), from the same party as Sabino and also favorable to the regulation of activities. The expectation is that the rapporteur will be appointed in the second semester and that the matter will move forward.
The subject, however, is treated more carefully by other sectors of the government. The president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, voted against the project when he was a deputy and even made a publication on the networks in which he said that “legalizing gambling will increase debt and break up families.”
Upon assuming command of the tourism promotion agency, Freixo modulated his speech and stated in February, to BandNews, that the issue is “on the horizon” of the portfolio, but warned that it needs to be treated “with responsibility.”
Likewise, the Ministry of Finance, commanded by Fernando Haddad, made a point of differentiating the theme of the portfolio's initiative to regulate online sports betting. On social media, the ministry states that the Provisional Measure (PM) articulated by Haddad has “zero relationship with gambling.” Sports betting has been legalized since 2018, at the initiative of then President Michel Temer.
Source: O Globo
