The Parliament scraped PEC 37. The protesters in Brazil stopped power shift in favor of a corrupt police force.

PEC is an anagram for a formal proposal to amend the federal constitution pending before Congress. The proposals are numbered serially each legislative session, and PEC 37 was one of many. It deals with a Brazilian legal institution that is entirely unfamiliar to most North Americans, something called the “Ministério Público” and often abbreviated “MP”.

Under the constitution, the MP is a separate and independent power, not part of the Legislative, Executive or Judicial branches. It is deemed an institution “essential to justice” whose purview is to defend “the legal order, democratic rule and inalienable social and individual rights.” It combines the role of a public prosecutor with that of a public defender; it acts as the “internal affairs” department of the police, defends indigenous peoples and the environment and brings civil class actions in favor of “diffuse” interests.

The MP has the power to request investigatory measures, and even the formal initiation of criminal suits, but, so say many, only the police can conduct criminal investigations. And there’s the rub.

For some time now, the MP has said its constitutional powers include initiating criminal investigations, and has done so most willingly. This is often the case in high profile cases, where the MP believes that the police are either unwilling or politically unable to initiate proceedings.

The MP argues that its constitutional independence from the other three branches of government ensures it will investigate without being subject to political pressures. Its detractors, including numerous members of Congress, say it has usurped the executive police power.

So, PEC 37 would amend the constitution to prohibit any criminal investigative activities by the MP. The police, and only the police, will be allowed to conduct criminal investigations.

The protesters, as we all have seen, do not like or trust the police. In fact, most Brazilians do not like or trust the police, who for decades have more often been oppressors rather than defenders of the people. Both the Vargas and the military dictatorships relied heavily on the police to keep people under control and suppress democracy.

So, saying “No!” to PEC 37 is definitely a key program of the marchers, because they know, based on decades of experience, that if you leave the investigations to the police, only the rich and powerful will investigate anything at all—and it won’t be themselves.

Source: Rio Times Online.

My comment:

In most nations, the police force is a political tool that can be used by the ruling political party. The Ministry of Justice can force the police not to take action against corrupt politicians.

In Brazil, the public prosecutor has been an independent office, not controlled  by the legislators.  When PEC 37 is scraped, the corrupt politicians and police officers, can still be brought to justice.If possible.

Let us hope and pray that there will be less bla-bla-bla in Brazil too. People are getting tired of listening to politicians who have lost grip with realties, and support outright anti-human evil. The elite is working for their own benefits, and desire to establish a One World Government.

May the revival in Brazil get momentum. The Roman Catholic Church has lost its grip in this nation, seeing the former Portuguese subject of colonialism and Fascism coming to faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Written by Ivar