Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Brazil's President Offers Referendum
The Wall Street Journal, 25/06/2013
SÃO PAULO—Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called for a national referendum on overhauling a political system often criticized as unaccountable and corrupt, unveiling a far-reaching response to two weeks of mass demonstrations that have rocked this South American nation.
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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Monday summoned state governors and city mayors to hear the grievances of protesters.
Under Ms. Rousseff's plan, Brazilians would vote on whether to convene an assembly to potentially alter the country's 1988 constitution. She announced other initiatives, including a bill to make political corruption a serious felony, rather than a minor offense, and additional funding for health and education.
The plan, announced at an emergency meeting with state governors and city mayors, underscored concern with the near-daily protests that have killed four people, brought cities to a standstill and threatened Ms. Rousseff's popularity. In it, Ms. Rousseff seeks to resolve what many see as the root of a matrix of national grievances expressed by protesters, from the poor quality of public services to corruption.
"This could release enormous political energy and, if done right, could be a way for her to come out on top," said Paulo Sotero, who directs the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. "Every Brazilian knows the political structure is completely messed up, and though the initiative to change it is coming from the street, she is showing she is listening and understands it."
By responding to protesters' demands, Ms. Rousseff has adopted a different strategy from the heavy-handed responses of other developing-world leaders who have faced mass demonstrations, such as Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Much of the explanation lies in the fact protesters weren't targeting Ms. Rousseff explicitly. And Ms. Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla and the country's first female president, still sees herself as a revolutionary in office dedicated to improving governance in a country that shed a military dictatorship in 1985.
In her speech, Ms. Rousseff defended her record, and that of her Workers Party, in power for the past decade. She cited low employment, years of economic growth and promised to leverage the street protests into long-standing changes.
"Everyone knows what the problems are. And we also know about the innumerable difficulties to resolve them," Ms. Rousseff said. "I have encountered since taking office, numerous obstacles, but the energy that is coming from the streets is bigger than any obstacle."
Protests began two weeks ago over bus fares in São Paulo, and spread countrywide. At least a million people have taken to the streets in protests that were tinged with violence last week. Rio de Janeiro officials reported looting outbreaks, while in Brasília a mob trashed the entrance to the Foreign Ministry. Demonstrators set fires and blocked roads, while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
At the center of the complaints is a perception of impunity for corrupt politicians. Mass protests helped bring down a president, Fernando Collor, in 1992, amid corruption charges. But he is back in the Senate. The supreme court convicted two dozen politicians in a vote-buying scheme this year, but none has gone to jail.
Brazilian leaders have long talked about overhauling the political system, but the proposals died in Congress. Chief among the proposals is making representatives more accountable to voters. Under the current system, lawmakers are appointed by their parties and don't have to campaign against challengers in home districts. Proposals to create district votes and primaries would likely be discussed by a constitutional assembly. Although there is broad support for changes to the system, debate over the changes will be heated, and some opposition officials said they are skeptical.
"We still don't know what she's proposing, it's just another empty speech so far," said Rubens Bueno, leader of the Socialist People's Party in Brazil's lower house of Congress.
It isn't clear whether all Ms. Rousseff's ideas will get through Congress. For example, she wants to dedicate oil royalties to education, a move state leaders have opposed. She also called for importing doctors from Cuba and elsewhere, a plan opposed by Brazilian doctors' groups.
The demonstrations have come at a tricky time for Brazil. The country currently is hosting a Confederations Cup soccer tournament, a dry run for next year's soccer World Cup. But the expensive World Cup stadiums have attracted the ire of protesters who say the money should have been spent on hospitals and schools. It wasn't clear how Ms. Rousseff's overtures would be received on the streets. Protests are planned for Wednesday in the city of Belo Horizonte and perhaps on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, the site of the soccer tournament finals.
"It is one way, at least, that the government shows they understand that the people were not heard in elections and in the media," said Ernani Fernandes, co-founder of the Movement Against Corruption, one of the protest groups.
—Tom Murphy, Luciana Magalhaes and Loretta Chao contributed to this article.
Write to Tom Murphy at tom.murphy@dowjones.com
A version of this article appeared June 25, 2013, on page A11 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Brazil's President Offers Referendum.
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