The governor of , (), stated this Monday (23) that he leaves with his “head held high” from command of the Guanabara Palace.
Castro leaves office to run for Senate in October. The resignation occurs on the eve of the (Superior Electoral Court) which could revoke his mandate and make him ineligible.
“I leave with my head held high, gratefully. Someone who was a first-term councilor becomes lieutenant governor in a completely unlikely way. […] The figure of the state governor has once again become a respected figure, a beloved figure”, he said, in a statement to the press.
In a 20-minute speech and without answering questions, Castro listed what he considered his government’s achievements, citing investment in public security, the concession of basic sanitation services and the completion of works. He stated that he valued the position of governor and criticized former governor Wilson Witzel, whose deputy he was until his impeachment in June 2020, when he took over the state.
“If I had a predecessor who did not value the position of governor, who on the first day thought about being president, I lived intensely these six years with pride in being governor. With the certainty that this position was the pinnacle of my career”, he said.
By resigning before the trial, Castro aims to try to guarantee the holding of an indirect election for the buffer mandate, which runs until the end of this year. Revocation by the TSE could lead to a direct election, reducing the governor’s power of influence over his immediate succession.
The resignation also seeks to try to empty the trial, which currently has a score of 2 to 0 for the governor’s impeachment and ineligibility. Castro tries to prolong the discussion about the second punishment, in order to try to make his candidacy for the Senate viable.
The resignation letter will be signed at an event at Palácio Guanabara on Monday night. After the governor leaves office, the president of the Court of Justice, judge Ricardo Couto de Castro, assumes the role on an interim basis.
The disintegration of the succession line that led the president of the TJ-RJ (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro) to take over the Guanabara Palace began in May. It was when Cláudio Castro convinced former vice-governor Thiago Pampolha to leave his position to (State Audit Court) in order to make room for Rodrigo Bacellar (União), at the time president of the Assembly.
The design predicted Castro’s resignation to run for the Senate. Under the plan, Bacellar would be chosen by Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro), where he had broad support, in an indirect election as a “buffer governor” to run for re-election in October.
The plan fell apart when Bacellar was arrested and removed from office by order of minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the (Supreme Federal Court), under suspicion of leaking information about the operation, linked to Comando Vermelho. He denies it.
Bacellar was replaced by Guilherme Delaroli (PL) in command of the Assembly who, as he is interim, cannot take over the state government in the event of vacancy in the positions of governor and deputy.
