Brazilian congressional leaders delayed a key vote on Wednesday as the government's efforts to pass economic reforms before October municipal elections appeared to hit a brick wall. A vote on the center-left government's overhaul of bankruptcy laws, which should reduce the cost of doing business in Brazil, was delayed until the middle of September as the opposition decided to obstruct votes, lawmakers said. Economic and legal reforms are included as non-mandatory goals under a $40 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. Analysts have warned the government would be unable to push ambitious reforms through Congress before nationwide municipal elections in October, which are seen as a referendum on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's policies. A leading lawmaker from the ruling Workers' Party blamed the government for failing to work with the opposition to pass reforms. Lula faced a series of setbacks in the Senate in the first half of 2004 when the opposition blocked his proposals. "The problem is not about attaining quorum, it is about politics -- political problems created by the government in its normal relations with the opposition," said lawmaker Joao Paulo Cunha, head of the lower house of Congress. --MORE 2326 Local Time 2026 GMT
