According to the leader of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front, deputy Sóstenes Cavalcante (DEM-RJ), the agreement was based on the understanding that the issue would be too complex to be dealt with in the virtual modality, applied in the Chamber until Carnival.
“Whether we win or lose the vote is part of democracy. But voting in the remote system, such a controversial subject, can end up preventing the debate for some colleagues who, in a remote way, are not able to dedicate the same attention to the legislative process,” declared Cavalcante.
Felipe Carreras says he doesn't expect to get any support from the evangelical bench in relation to the project, but plans to comply with the agreement, waiting for the end of the month to present the report. The deputy considers that, once in plenary, the project will not have difficulties to be approved. “We already got 293 votes in favor in the vote on the urgency request in December. Today I see an even greater sympathy with the media announcing the project,” he told Congress in Focus.
The evangelical leader's strategy is to get support from the Catholic Parliamentary Front so that the project is rejected. “We prepared a spreadsheet of 50 parliamentarians to try to talk to each one of them individually and turn those votes. Turning that, we bury this project once and for all,” he explained.
Opposition to the project is a common agenda between the evangelical bench and the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB). In a statement, the entity says that the arguments used by supporters, that the project can help with fundraising and job creation, “do not consider the possibility of associating gambling with money laundering and organized crime.” It also states that the legalization of gambling can increase the problems of gambling addiction, and “calls on the National Congress to reject this project and any other initiative that seeks to regulate gambling in Brazil.”
The project already presents some mechanisms to try to solve the problems mentioned. According to the text, the participation of players in betting will take place through a public register, in order to allow the government to identify the values of the bets to prevent money laundering and restrict the access of people identified as addicts. It is also planned to use part of the revenue obtained from gaming for health programs aimed at combating ludopathy.
Source: Lucas Neiva – Congresso em Foco
