The interim governor of Rio de Janeiro, the president of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Couto, said this Wednesday (25) that the buffer election should be postponed after sending a letter to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to determine direct or indirect elections to decide the next governor of the state of Rio.
The letter requested by Couto from the TSE seeks to clarify whether there was a possible fraud attempt on Castro’s part, with his resignation, so that direct voting would not take place. “The resignation of Cláudio Bomfim de Castro e Silva characterizes, in theory, an attempt to circumvent the hypothesis of direct elections”, according to a PSD document addressed to the interim governor of RJ.
In a press conference this Wednesday (25), Couto stated that, in the case of Rio, the governor’s departure was due to resignation, therefore, a non-electoral vacancy. What characterizes an indirect election decided by Alerj.
He also said that, with the revocation of Castro’s mandate, the election will become direct, as stated in electoral legislation.
Ricardo Couto takes over the government on an interim basis
With Castro’s departure, the person who temporarily took over the state is the president of the Rio Court of Justice, judge Ricardo Couto. This situation occurs because the vice-governor, Thiago Pampolha, who took up a position at the State Court of Auditors (TCE-RJ) came out in 2025 and the president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), Rodrigo Bacellar (União), also became ineligible after a vote in the TSE.
Before Tuesday’s vote, Bacellar had renewed his request for leave from office. He had not held the position since December 10 of last year, because he was arrested during Operation Nail and Flesh, by the Federal Police (PF), on December 3.
The parliamentarian would have leaked confidential information about the investigation against former state deputy Thiego Raimundo dos Santos Silva, known as TH Joias, accused of intermediating the purchase and sale of weapons for Comando Vermelho (CV), the main criminal faction in Rio de Janeiro.
