Marcus Brandão had been appointed to be director of Institutional Relations at the State Legislative Assembly
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), suspended on Tuesday (Dec 10, 2024) the appointment of Marcus Brandão, brother of the governor of Maranhão, (PSB), from the position of director of Institutional Relations of the Assembly State Legislature, under the justification of crossed nepotism.
In addition to Marcus Brandão, Jacqueline Heluy, who served as the Assembly’s social communications director, and Camila Moura, who held the position of legislative director of the House, were also removed from their positions. The first is the mother-in-law of the governor’s nephew, while Camila is the sister-in-law of Carlos Brandão.
“In view of all the above, in addition to the previous decision, I grant an injunction and order the immediate suspension of appointments and, consequently, the exercise of positions and functions”, wrote the minister. Moraes ordered that the suspension of positions, including salaries and benefits, take effect upon publication of his decision ( – PDF – 229 kB).
Moraes had already decided to remove other family members of Carlos Brandão from public positions, such as a niece and brothers-in-law. In total, 5 of the governor’s relatives had their appointment suspended. The decision from October this year ( – PDF – 289 kB) established the removal of:
- Mariana Braide Brandão Carvalho, coordinator of the Health Department (niece);
- Melissa Correia Lima de Mesquita Buzar (sister-in-law);
- Elias Moura Neto, manager of Companhia de Gás do Maranhão (brother-in-law);
- Ítalo Augusto Reis Carvalho, undersecretary of the Infrastructure Secretariat (husband of the governor’s niece);
- Gilberto Lins Neto, director of the Maranhense Port Administration Company (husband of a niece)
“The practice of nepotism is unjustifiable in our current reality, it is immoral, it violates the institutional ethics that should govern the powers of the State, as it violates the community’s sense of reasonableness to use public positions to favor the family and guarantee domestic employability”, declared Alexandre de Moraes, in October this year.
