The attorney general of the Union and (Supreme Federal Court), is awaiting the hearing he needs to undergo to take up a place on the court ten years after becoming a well-known character in Brazilian politics.
It was mentioned by the then president () in a conversation ten years ago. Released on March 16, 2016, the recording was one of the most striking points of the political process that culminated in the .
Nominees for the Supreme Court must have at least 41 favorable votes in the Senate, after answering questions from senators, to be approved.
Messias’ choice for the court vacancy was announced by Lula last November. The president of the Senate, (União Brasil-AP), arrived at , but at . Lula used the trick to buy time and try to gain more support for his nominee.
Government members and senators await a new meeting between the presidents of the Republic and the Senate to unlock the hearing. The expectation is that the conversation will take place in the next few days. Lula’s allies believe that the vote could be held in March.
An evangelical, Messias became one of the president’s main interlocutors with religious sectors resistant to Lula and the PT. His religious identity appeared, for example, in conversations with senators seeking support, such as Sheet.
He also indicated that he has, in addition to signaling that he will not be an opponent of parliamentary amendments – the main mechanism for deputies and senators to send money to their electoral bases.
Lula’s choice went against the leadership of e, which had been the main source of support for the PT administration in the Legislature. Alcolumbre wanted the chosen one to be the senator (-MG).
Messiah is popular in the political world. Senators, however, estimate that he will be unlikely to be approved for the position if there is no prior agreement between Lula and Alcolumbre. Shortly after the nomination, the minister argued with congressmen that there was a disagreement between the presidents of the Republic and the Senate.
In 2016, when he became known nationally, Messias was deputy head of Legal Affairs at Palácio do Planalto. Dilma ordered him to take the “term of inauguration” as minister of the Civil House to Lula. In the call, she told the PT member that he should use the document “if necessary”.
Lava Jato investigators interpreted the dialogue as an attempt by Dilma to prevent Lula from being arrested by giving him a high position in the government. One .
The then president was furious, and pronounced Messiah’s name as “Bessias” on the call. PT’s opponents adopted the nickname. The way Lula said goodbye to Dilma, “bye, darling”, became a kind of slogan for the campaign of opponents for impeachment, which took place in August 2016.
In the month following the release of the audio, the then judge responsible for Lava Jato, now a senator from Paraná, for having made the recording public even though the material was produced after a .
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Messias remained close to the PT’s political group in the years following Dilma’s fall. In 2022, he participated in the transition team that prepared Lula and his assistants to take power in early 2023. He was announced as attorney general of the Union by the then president-elect days before his inauguration.
“[Anuncio] fellow attorney general of the Union, fellow lawyer Jorge Messias, who was treated by Jorge Bessias here,” said Lula on December 22, 2022, when he announced who would command the AGU (Advocacy General of the Union).
The minister established himself as one of the President of the Republic’s closest assistants in the following years.
