Dante de Oliveira Constitutional Amendment Bill

Constitutional Amendment Bill no. 5, of 1983
Constitutional Amendment Bill no. 5, of 1983
National Congress of Brazil
	Long title Disposes about the direct election for President and Vice President of the Republic. ;
Citation	PEC 5/1983
Considered by	Chamber of Deputies
Legislative history
Introduced by	Dep. Dante de Oliveira (PMDB–MT)
Introduced	18 April 1983
First reading	18 April 1983
Second reading	25 April 1984
Voting summary	298 voted for; 65 voted against; 3 abstained; 113 absent;
Keywords
	Direct election
	Status: Not passed

The Constitutional Amendment Bill no. 5, of 1983 (Portuguese: Proposta de Emenda Constitucional n° 5 de 1983), commonly known as Dante de Oliveira Amendment, introduced by then federal deputy Dante de Oliveira, aimed ro reinstate direct elections for President of Brazil, by changing Articles 74 and 148 of the 1967 Brazilian Constitution, once the democratic tradition had been interrupted by the military dictatorship.^[1]^[2]

History

The enormous popular pressure for the approval of the bill became one of the largest social-political movements of Brazil's history and was named Diretas Já. According to an IBOPE poll, 84% of the Brazilian people was favorable for the approval of the bill.^[3]

Besides the popular support, the bill was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies on 25 April 1984. Because it is a constitutional amendment, a two thirds majority (320 deputies) was necessary for the approval.^[4]

With the amendment rejection, the 1985 presidential election was indirect. However, internal talks of the opposition to the military regime, specially in the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, endorsed by the media and with strong popular support, divided the government majority in the Congress, causing the election of the opposition leader Tancredo Neves for President of the Republic. A cycle of five military presidents had ended, which began in 1964. However, Neves was never sworn in, passing away due to serious health issues on 21 April 1985. His running mate, José Sarney was inaugurated on 15 March, being also one of the responsible for the redemocratization process of the country, even after supporting the military for 20 years.

Voting

Ballot →		25 April 1984
Voting Chamber of Deputies
Required majority →		320 out of 479 N
	Yes • PMDB (201) • PDS (55) • PDT (23) • PTB (11) • PT (8)	298 / 479
	No • PDS (65)	65 / 479
	Abstentions • PDS (3)	3 / 479
	Absentees • PDS (112) • PTB (1)	113 / 479

References

^ Rossi, Clóvis (26 April 1984). "Use preto pelo Congresso Nacional". Banco de Dados Folha (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^ "Diretas Já: rejeição da Emenda Dante de Oliveira marca a história do País". Rádio Câmara (in Brazilian Portuguese). 22 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^ Yazbeck, Ivanir (2011). O real Itamar. Gutenberg Editora. ISBN 9788582352236.
^ Batista, Liz (25 April 2014). "Há 30 anos, Emenda Dante de Oliveira era rejeitada". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2024.

[1] Rossi, Clóvis (26 April 1984). "Use preto pelo Congresso Nacional". Banco de Dados Folha (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2024.

[2] "Diretas Já: rejeição da Emenda Dante de Oliveira marca a história do País". Rádio Câmara (in Brazilian Portuguese). 22 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2024.

[3] Yazbeck, Ivanir (2011). O real Itamar. Gutenberg Editora. ISBN 9788582352236.

[4] Batista, Liz (25 April 2014). "Há 30 anos, Emenda Dante de Oliveira era rejeitada". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 11 July 2024.

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