The de renewed the pressure from entities for the appointment of a woman to the (Supreme Federal Court), in addition to the demand for the president () to consider racial diversity when choosing the minister’s successor.
The highest body of the Brazilian Judiciary, the court currently has only one minister in its composition, . Only two other women have joined the court in its 134-year history: Ellen Gracie. All three are white.
Lula has already had the opportunity to appoint 10 ministers over three terms, including only one woman, Cármen. He will now make his 11th nomination, and the expectation is that it will again be from a man.
As shown by Sheetthe minister TCU (Court of Auditors of the Union) Bruno Dantas, the attorney general of the Union, , favorite for the position, and the senator (-MG).
“We have news of the departure of a minister from the Supreme Court, and it is absolutely natural that, subsequently, lists composed exclusively of men appear”, says Luciana Zaffalon, executive director of the Justa platform. “It is essential to stop naturalizing.”
Alongside the entities Themis and Fórum Justiça, Justa signs a note in which it defends the appointment of a woman to the STF and presents a list of names of people from the legal universe who could be considered for the position.
“It is not possible for us to have a court composed in an embarrassingly male and white manner. Such an unequal representation of society in one of its branches, be it Legislative, Executive or Judiciary, is not democratic”, says Zaffalon.
The leader says that, even from an electoral perspective, it is necessary to take into account the weight of women’s votes. One of the arguments put forward in favor of Messiah is the fact that he is . The minister’s appointment could serve as a nod to the segment with an eye on the 2026 elections. “To whom will Lula relegate the women’s dispute in the next election? Is he giving up on this audience?”, he asks.
The most that the STF has ever experienced was to have two women on the board of ministers at the same time. In 2023, minister Rosa Weber, who shared the bench with Cármen Lúcia, resigned. The woman from Rio Grande do Sul was the last of her kind to be nominated to the court.
In her place, Lula appointed the minister that same year, sworn in in 2024. In addition to him and Cármen, the PT member chose for the court, throughout his three terms, , , Menezes Direito, , Eros Grau, Joaquim Barbosa, Ayres Britto and Cezar Peluso.
This Monday (13), Lula said that the criterion to be evaluated will be the ability to fulfill the requirement — regardless of being a man, woman, white or black.
“I want a person, I don’t know if it’s a woman or a man, I don’t know if it’s black or white, I want a person who is, above all, qualified to be a Supreme Court minister,” declared Lula.
Political coordinator of the Black Women Decide movement, Tainah Pereira says that the appointment of a minister could change the profile of decisions in the court, especially on issues related to equal pay and sexual reproductive rights.
According to her, there is, however, a challenge in overcoming the personal criteria for presidential nomination that set the tone in the PT member’s third term, as , as occurred in the former president’s government ().
“President Lula does not give up on being the one to make this decision, especially after everything that has happened to him and all the criticism he has received for his past choices [para o STF]”, it says.
Appointed by Lula, Genival Inácio da Silva, known as Vavá, when he was imprisoned in Curitiba in 2019. Likewise, Joaquim Barbosa became the PT’s tormentor, with tough votes in .
“The direct criticism of the president is that, in so many years of public life, he did not build this circle of trust in a more diverse way”, says Pereira, remembering that, in 2023, Lula received the presidential sash from a group that should represent the diversity of the Brazilian people.
The diagnosis is that the lack of black women in spaces of power creates an obstacle to the appointment of people with this profile if personal and trust criteria are privileged.
Pereira says she won’t be surprised if Lula appoints another man to the court, but she will be disappointed. “In the decisions that fall exclusively to him, he has not been consistent with his own rhetoric.”
