Source: O Estado de S. Paulo, 04/12/2007

SÃO PAULO - The governor of Bahia, Jaques Wagner (PT), said today that Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL) 's resignation from the Senate presidency has no connection with the negotiations on the extension of the Provisional Contribution on Financial Transactions (CPMF) ) at home. “Any tension at such a delicate moment of voting is not welcome, but I am convinced that the CPMF vote runs on its own bed. I don't think there is a direct link between one thing and the other, because it would be reducing the level of debate in the Senate too much ”, he said.

Wagner said he believed that the talks between the São Paulo and Minas Gerais governors from São Paulo and Minas Gerais, José Serra and Aécio Neves, with the leaders of his party in the Senate could reverse the position of the PSDB bench. “The democracy game has to be played between the government and the opposition, but there is an hour, close to the decision, that those in the Executive will transmit their sensitivity to those in the Legislative and talk about the difficulties that a cut of this magnitude can represent in their budgets. ”

The Bahian governor believes that, despite all the difficulties, the CPMF should be approved and the vote should be for next week. "The CPMF must be approved not for the exclusive merits of the government, but for the moment of democratic maturity in the country. There are times when people know that cutting R $ 41 billion from the budget from one year to the next is not feasible". He stated.

Jaques Wagner also said that the nine governors of the Northeast region will be in Brasília tomorrow, at the launch of the Health PAC, to reaffirm their positions by approving the so-called check tax in the Senate. The governor of Bahia gave a lecture at the seminar "How to improve the business environment", promoted by the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO), in the capital of São Paulo.