BRAZIL: House Will Withdraw From Voting On Pension Reform, Lawmaker Says

(RTTNews) - There will be no vote on the pension reform bill due to the urgency of military intervention in Rio de Janeiro State, said Congresswoman Laura Carneiro, who is in charge of the intervention decree in the Brazilian House of Representatives.

"There will be a vote on the pension reform? No. Is the need for an intervention real? It is. The issue today is no longer the pension reform," said Carneiro, according to Agência Brasil, the Brazilian government news agency.

"There is a serious deficit [in the pension system] that needs to be discussed, OK, but the point is that the Rio de Janeiro is bleeding. Is the pension also bleeding? It's bleeding less," she added.

Carneiro is against the pension reform bill.

Last Friday, the Brazilian President Michel Temer decided in favor of federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro state security, giving the army control over police, fire departments and the prison system in the region.

The move, however, acts as an obstacle to a House of Representatives floor vote on the pension system reform because constitutional changes are forbidden during intervention periods.

Temer, who is still chasing favorable votes for the pension reform bill, said that he would temporarily suspend the intervention in Rio de Janeiro to vote on the legislation if the government garners enough support for it.