An aide in the National Congress, who did not want to be named, said that there was resistance to the salary disclosure in Congress, which as part of the legislative branch has not yet released the salaries of its employees. “Everyone I have spoken to is against it. They feel it will make them more vulnerable to being robbed.”
He added that discussing pay in Brazil is a cultural no-no. “It’s a sensitive cultural topic; we don’t talk about our salaries,” he said. “On the other hand, as a public servant … you are accountable.”
Sweden was the first country to adopt a freedom of information law, in 1766, and some 95 countries now have them. In the UK, former Prime Minister Tony Blair passed such a law in 2000. He has since said, however, that he regrets doing so, claiming that the law was not used by “the people” but by journalists, as a “weapon”.
Transparency expert and political scientist Greg Michener has applauded Brazil’s efforts to increase governmental accountability, noting that citizens filed approximately 10,400 requests in the first month of operation, and that almost seventy percent of those had been answered.
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