Brazil’s Congress fighting for its right to party

With Congress almost ready to go on its mid-year break on July 17, leaders in the House of Representatives are scrambling for time to approve the much-awaited reform of Brazil’s pensions system. The bill is currently awaiting a vote in the House’s special committee, and representatives are working overtime to try and push it through the lower house before they go on holiday.

Therefore, it might come as a surprise to hear that Congress is not expected to get any work done next week, with a fair amount of members likely not to even bother turning up to Brasilia.

The reason? Festa Junina, Brazil’s annual harvest festivals which, in some regions of the country, are the most important days of the year. Huge parties are held in cities, towns, and villages all over the Northeast of Brazil on the feast days of Saints Anthony (June 13), John (June 24), and Peter (June 29)—and for members of Congress hailing from these regions, missing out on the celebrations is political suicide.

Due to the vast internal migration of people from the Northeast to the North and down to the state of São Paulo, these regions have also developed their own strong Festa Junina traditions, meaning that the last week of June is something of a write-off in Congress.

That could change this year, however, if Rodrigo Maia—Speaker of the House of Representatives—gets his way. Desperate to push the pension reform bill through the lower house...