The president of , (União-AP), publicly demonstrated this Tuesday (18), for the first time, his dissatisfaction with the imminent appointment of the attorney general of the Union, , for a vacancy in the (Federal Supreme Court). He wanted the chosen one to be the former president of the Senate (-MG), one of his main allies.
The preference of the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio da Silva (PT), for Messias has been known to the political world for weeks. On Monday night (17), however, the eo announced that the nominee would be the attorney general of the Union. The meeting was revealed by columnist Mônica Bergamo, from Sheet.
Alcolumbre was approached by journalists twice this Tuesday with questions about the topic. At first, he avoided making statements. On Monday, he initially said that he would only have answers to matters already being processed in the Senate.
The senator, however, said the following after being asked if he would wait for Messias’ nomination to officially reach the House: “You have to wait, do what? If I could, I would make the nomination.”
Lula would like Pacheco to be a candidate for the government of Minas Gerais and support him in his re-election campaign. The former president of the Senate, however, indicated that he should abandon his political career and return to being a lawyer.
The prospect of the end of Pacheco’s political career left Alcolumbre especially upset, according to allies of the Amapá senator. The two have been close allies for years.
Alcolumbre was president of the Senate in 2021 and for the position. Afterwards, Pacheco kept him in positions of power that facilitated his death in 2025.
The analysis around the president of the Senate is that the relationship between Alcolumbre and Lula is shaken by the choice of the head of Planalto by Messias. The senator was, at least until now, one of the main allies of the PT government.
Nominating names for vacancies in the STF is the responsibility of the Presidency of the Republic, but the nominees must be approved by the Senate. Alcolumbre has indicated behind the scenes that he will not help the Union’s attorney general to obtain the minimum of 41 favorable votes necessary to have the House’s approval.
Last week, the close vote that senators gave in favor of reappointing him as Attorney General of the Republic was a . He had 45 votes, just 4 more than he needed. It has been since redemocratization, in the 1980s.
The assessment in the Senate is that Gonet, despite being liked by the majority of senators. It was approved after a mobilization of some of the most influential senators. Alcolumbre was decisive in guaranteeing the minimum number of votes necessary for Gonet to win another two years in office – which he should not do for Messias.
After Gonet’s vote, government allies who would also like to see Pacheco on the STF sought out ministers close to Lula to increase pressure against Messias’ nomination. Lula, however, understands that the nomination of names for the STF is up to the President of the Republic, without being subject to external pressure.
The vacancy on the STF was opened after the now former minister. He could stay on the court until he was 75, but decided to leave the post at 67, after completing his term as president of the Court.
