Brazilians march against corruption to mark independence day
The performance of Brazil鈥檚 Congress, and particularly the governing coalition, makes one wonder whether the nation鈥檚 deliberative process should be moved somewhere else 鈥� far away from the alleged 鈥榬epresentatives of the people.鈥�
Congress is where the government鈥檚 coalition 鈥榓llies鈥� select their robber baron cabinet ministers, the same ones that have been resigning one after the next in the wake of President Dilma Rousseff鈥檚 spring cleaning. Yet despite the rash of corruption scandals over the past months, and one particularly egregious 鈥榮ecret vote鈥� that recently absolved a deputy of grand corruption charges, a few bright spots have begun to appear. These include a parliamentary movement against corruption and a September 7 鈥淢arch Against Corruption鈥� in support of President Rousseff鈥檚 efforts to purge Brasilia.
The Super-Party Front Against Corruption
A group of parliamentarians led by Senator Pedro Simon (of the PMDB) have announced the creation of a 鈥淪uper-Party Front Against Corruption.鈥� The movement supports the faxina or cleaning that began shortly after President Rousseff took power. , Mr. Simon asks that the president 鈥渄ialogue with us, chat, sit together to find a solution.鈥� Simon鈥檚 plea does not sound like unconditional support for the fight against corruption, but rather a return to the amiguismo and 鈥榗onsensus impunity鈥� status quo. But at least the establishment of a 鈥榝ront鈥� against corruption is a promising sign that incentives are moving in the right direction.
Can Electoral Rewards for Ethical Behavior Change Congress?
One deputy reinforces the idea that incentives to prioritize ethics do exist. , a 38-year-old deputy from Brasilia, is an ethical crusader who gave up half his staff, his complete travel allowance, and part of his 鈥榚xtra鈥� salary because he鈥檇 rather save public money than receive funds he claims he doesn鈥檛 need. In proportional terms, Mr. Reguffe won more votes than any other member of Congress (266,500), and with very little campaign money. The clear inference is that Brazilians reward honesty and ethical behavior. Although perhaps not the most novel conclusion for readers used to seeing dishonest behavior punished, it is highly significant for a country where assumed or proven dishonesty often has little bearing on election results or political support more generally.
Unchecked Impunity
Last week鈥檚 secret vote in the Lower House, which successfully absolved Deputy Jaqueline Roriz of corruption charges, provides a point-in-case of the sort of impunity that has long muddied the reputation of Congress. In 2006 Ms. Roriz was caught red-handed on tape accepting a bribe of 50,000 reais ($33,000) in public money. Yet deputies justified the 235-166 vote in favor of absolution by claiming that Roriz had not yet been vested as a federal deputy when the film was shot 鈥� instead she was a state deputy at the time. The fact that a proven thief of public money continues to pose as a public servant seems to have escaped Congress鈥� sense of higher justice, much less its sense of irony. Irony of ironies, the 鈥榬epresentatives of the people鈥� employed a very unrepresentative institutional mechanism 鈥� the 鈥榮ecret parliamentary vote鈥� 鈥� to endorse another desolating setback for parliament.
The March Against Corruption
But there is increasing movement against corruption and impunity. Today is Brazilian Independence Day, the 7th of September, and marches against corruption are set to take place across Brazil. The movement, simply called the 鈥淢arch Against Corruption鈥� (marcha contra a corrup莽茫o) has been quietly accumulating supporters through social media, including and .
Organization against corruption is a positive step forward. As I wrote about , Brazilians have a reputation for passivity in the face of injustice. Yet it remains to be seen whether the march will prove little more than a fleeting protest. Discouragingly, the mainstream media has been providing very little coverage of the event.
The hands-off approach of the media makes perfect sense, however; zealous coverage of recent corruption scandals has led government to once more . In the wake of the government鈥檚 efforts to purge corruption from federal ministries, especially those most involved in preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, it seems the strategy is now to use the media as a scapegoat. This is the media鈥檚 cue to play nice. Stay tuned.
--- Greg Michener, based in Rio de Janeiro, writes the blog, . He is currently writing a book on Freedom of Information in Latin America for Cambridge University Press.
