Under pressure from , the president (PT) is expected to hold a round of talks in the coming days to define who he will nominate for Luís Roberto Barroso’s seat at the (Supreme Federal Court).
Aides to the PT member say that he maintains his decision to nominate the attorney general of the Union, but there is a movement in the Senate for him to choose the former president of the House (-MG). It is up to the senators to approve the name of Lula’s nominee after the hearing.
The parliamentarians’ favorite has as its main guarantor the current head of the House, (-AP), who is today one of Lula’s main allies in Congress.
before the president traveled to Asia. The expectation was that the Chief Executive would announce the name of Messiah after the meeting, but he decided to postpone this move. At the meeting, the president of the Senate pointed out his preference for Pacheco and warned the PT member of difficulties in approving Messias’ name in the House.
There is a fear among senators that Messias could become a “new Flávio Dino”, in reference to the Supreme Court minister who, after being appointed to the STF, opened a crusade to provide more transparency in the execution of parliamentary amendments, irritating congressmen.
A center leader says that without the support of Alcolumbre and Pacheco, it is unlikely that Messias’ name will be approved in the Senate — and recalls the not very comfortable score of approval of Dino’s name for the court, 47 to 31.
According to allies, Pacheco has already been informed by Lula’s emissaries that he will be contacted by the President of the Republic in the coming days. Initially, the two had a planned conversation for when the PT member returned from an official trip from Asia, but it did not end up taking place due to the security crisis triggered by the mega-operation in Rio de Janeiro.
Now, it was up to the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), to give the message to Pacheco this Wednesday morning (12) that he should be called by Lula. Jaques was with the PT member the day before in a conversation at Palácio da Alvorada and discussed, among other topics, the nomination to the STF.
To interlocutors, Jaques says he believes that Lula remains convinced in nominating Messias and that he considers it important for these conversations to take place, even in a gesture from the PT member to those involved. Lula is close to Pacheco and makes no secret of the fact that he would like him to run for government of Minas Gerais next year.
Lula’s aides also point out that the president will be able to make up to four nominations for the STF in case of re-election and that, for this project, he would count on a strong candidacy in Minas.
Although the president has already made the decision some time ago, there are allies who say they see a chance of retreat given the resistance to the name of Messiah and the delay in making the choice official.
A frequent interlocutor of Lula states that any rejection of the name of Messiah would represent enormous strain on the PT member, on the eve of the election year.
Furthermore, he states that Alcolumbre has been an important ally of Palácio do Planalto in Congress, at a time with the president of the Chamber, (-PB) — and, in this way, he advocates caution to avoid displeasing the senator.
The president’s allies also say that he should look for the minister, of the TCU (Federal Audit Court), another name mentioned for the position, and ministers of the Supreme Court. Before traveling to Belém, to participate in the UN (climate change conference), the PT member talked about the topic with Dino, according to a PT member’s assistant.
