Alesp (Legislative Assembly of ) is preparing to choose next week an ally of the governor (Republicans) for the position of advisor to the TCE (State Audit Court), in the vacancy of Sidney Beraldo, who is retiring at the end of this month.
The leader of the House bench, Carlos Cezar, should be the name chosen, according to state deputies from six parties heard by the Sheet. If his appointment is confirmed, he will be the fourth counselor appointed –among the seven in the body– aligned with the Tarcísio administration.
The choice of Carlos Cezar could also give the governor prolonged influence over the court. The first nominee in the current administration to turn 75, the age that forces counselors to retire, will be in 2043. In theory, by then, due to the age limit for serving in the court and without considering other reasons such as early retirement, Tarcísio may have in the TCE the majority of members appointed by him or his political base throughout his current government.
The seat on the TCE is seen as strategic by parties and political leaders because its holder is responsible for judging the accounts of the state government and the municipalities of São Paulo, with the exception of the capital, which has its accounts analyzed by the TCM (Municipal Audit Court).
The body has financial and administrative independence and is linked to the Legislative Branch. Since the beginning of the current administration, state deputies have been demanding the choice of one of their own for the post, which has salaries of R$44,000, excluding allowances, and offices with 33 employees, 31 of which are commissioned.
The Alesp Board of Directors will receive nominations from deputies for the position from this Wednesday (12) until Friday (14). The parliamentarians’ expectation is that Carlos Cezar will be questioned by the deputies on the morning of next Tuesday (18) and approved in the afternoon of the same day. Approval depends on simple majority votes, as long as at least 48 of the 94 deputies are in the plenary.
With the exception of PSOL, the party opposing the Tarcísio government, the other parties must vote in favor of the nomination of Carlos Cezar, who has been campaigning since February this year.
The last time an active state deputy was chosen for the TCE occurred in 1990, when Eduardo Bittencourt Carvalho was nominated by the then MDB governor Orestes Quércia (1987-1991). Carvalho was a member of PL, the acronym that gave rise to the current party of the same name. Today’s PL is the result of a merger of the old PL with Prona, carried out in 2006.
Indications for TCE
The last São Paulo government to have four appointments to the TCE was that of Luiz Antonio Fleury (1991-1994), a historic member of the MDB. During the period, Edgard Camargo Rodrigues, Flávio Julião Biazzi, Cláudio Ferraz de Alvarenga and Renato Martins Costa were nominated — the latter is still active. All appointments were approved by Fleury.
The Tucano government of Geraldo Alckmin (2011-2018) — now vice-president of the Republic and affiliated with the PSB — had three nominations in 2012: Cristiana Moraes, Dimas Ramalho and Sidney Beraldo, who retires on the 25th of this month.
Alckmin nominated Beraldo, who was chief secretary of the Civil House in his government, and worked behind the scenes to get Alesp to nominate Ramalho. Cristiana, the only woman to join the court in history, was chosen from a triple list after an appeal by court auditors.
Of the four councilor seats filled during the Tarcísio government, three were appointed by Alesp and one by the governor.
Alesp’s first appointment, that of Bertaiolli, took place in 2023 and involved the national president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, the Government Secretary, Gilberto Kassab (PSD), and Tarcísio himself.
In 2024, Casa . The name was recommended by the minister, and also endorsed by Tarcísio.
The former state controller-general, , was a personal recommendation from Tarcísio. The two studied together in the same class at Aman (Agulhas Negras Military Academy) and were government ministers (PL).
WHAT IS TCE-SP
Body that carries out financial and asset supervision of the São Paulo government and all its municipalities (with the exception of the capital), including direct and indirect administration bodies, foundations and entities. Of the seven counselors, four are chosen by the Legislative Assembly and three by the governor.
- Budget in 2025: R$ 1.24 billion (value adjusted for inflation)
- Servers: 1.638
- Advisors: Cristiana Moraes (president), Dimas Ramalho (vice-president), Marco Aurélio Bertaiolli (inspector), Renato Martins Costa, Sidney Beraldo, Maxwell Borges and Wagner Rosário
- Planned retirements: 2025 (Beraldo), 2027 (Costa), 2029 (Ramalho), 2042 (Cristiana), 2043 (Bertaiolli), 2050 (Rosário) and 2060 (Maxwell).
