The minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication, , stated that the government has no intention of “circumventing” any procedure regarding the nomination of Jorge Messias to the STF (Supreme Federal Court), after the president of , (União Brasil-AP) postponed the hearing of the nominee ().
“There is no intention of the Executive to circumvent anything in this regard,” the minister told journalists this Tuesday (2).
In a note released on Tuesday afternoon, Alcolumbre announced the postponement of the hearing under the justification that the government did not send the message regarding the nomination to the Senate, already published in the Official Gazette of the Union.
According to the schedule previously announced by the president of the Senate, the Messiah hearing would take place on the 10th.
“This omission, which is the sole responsibility of the Executive Branch, is serious and unprecedented. It is an interference in the hearing schedule, a prerogative of the Legislative Branch,” stated Alcolumbre.
Messias’ nomination to the Supreme Court generated noise with the head of the Senate, who had Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) as his favorite for the position. Since the choice of Lula by Messias, then attorney general of the government’s Union, Alcolumbre’s reaction was negative to the PT administration.
Afterwards, Alcolumbre scheduled Messias’ hearing in the Senate for December 10, giving little time for the lawyer’s campaign among senators. Shortly after Lula’s announcement, the president of the Senate informed that he would take votes to the plenary session the following week on public accounts, considered a “bomb agenda” for the government.
In an attempt to get closer, Messias has already publicly praised Alcolumbre, a gesture that the senator received with irony, stating that he had “started well”, when speaking to him via the press, and not through direct contact.
Lula, in turn, had also been seeking to get closer to the President of the House and guarantee the approval of the name of Messiah to the Supreme Court, following the reactions. On Monday (1st), he had lunch with Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), rapporteur for the nomination.
Lula announced the choice of Messias for the STF on November 20, but did not directly send the necessary documentation to the Senate to begin the process. Nominees for the Supreme Court only take up a seat on the court if they are approved with at least 41 favorable votes in the Senate, out of a total of 81 senators.
The deadline was considered tight by allies of the nominee, who is the target of resistance in the Senate. Messias was campaigning to reverse his disadvantage, a job that would be less difficult with more time to talk to senators.
