Alerj (Legislative Assembly of ) elected this Thursday (26) the deputy () as the new president of the House, in a vote marked by legal questions and which could lead the state to have a third party.
The only candidate in the dispute, Ruas received 45 votes, without abstentions, in an open vote in the plenary. Of the 69 deputies able to vote, 24 were absent.
The session was marked by challenges from the opposition and cries of “coup” during the vote. Others applauded the new president.
“We all know that the state of Rio is going through a moment of exceptionality never seen before. It is at this moment that we see who has a commitment to the citizens of the state of Rio de Janeiro. (…) I receive the mission with great pride and responsibility, and regardless of party ideology and political positioning, all parliamentarians will have open dialogue from this presidency”, stated Ruas.
The election was called late in the morning by the acting president of the House, Guilherme Delaroli (PL), and took place amid a judicial offensive by opposition parties to try to block the election.
The new president replaces (), who by six votes to one, in the same trial that also affected the former governor (PL), in the Ceperj case.
The acceleration of the election occurs amidst the PL bench’s fear of losing seats in Alerj after the retotalization of votes by the Regional Electoral Court, scheduled for next Tuesday (31). Bacellar was elected by the acronym and obtained around 97 thousand votes, the annulment of which could impact the calculation of the electoral quotient and the distribution of seats between the parties.
The PSD, the party of the mayor of Rio, filed a writ of mandamus at the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice to try to suspend the election.
The action, signed by the Dean of the House, Luiz Paulo (PSD), maintains that the TSE determined the “immediate retotalization of votes for state deputy” by impeaching Bacellar, which has not yet been fulfilled. For the party, the absence of this recount would make the election illegal.
“The opposition parties are going to court, asking for an injunction to suspend the election. […] As we deeply disagree with the way the election for president was called, we will not approve it. There are 23 parties united in protest”, said Luiz Paulo.
Despite the offensive, the election was maintained.
Ruas’ choice occurs in the midst of an institutional crisis in the state. Since Monday (23), the Government of Rio has been commanded by the President of the Court of Justice, Judge Ricardo Couto, who took office after a .
before the conclusion of the trial at the TSE, which prevented the revocation of the mandate, but did not prevent it from being revoked.
The deputy, Thiago Pampolha, had already left his post in 2025 to take up a vacancy at the State Court of Auditors.
With the election, Ruas becomes first in the state government’s line of succession, which could lead to a new change in command of the Guanabara Palace.
The holding of the election before the totalization of votes was also the target of criticism within Alerj itself. The Assembly’s decision ignored the warning from the president of the TJ-RJ, Couto, who suggested caution and argued that the definition of new deputies could impact the process.
Deputies in favor of immediate voting, on the other hand, argued that there is precedent for holding the election even with an incomplete composition.
Deputy Felipe Paulbel (PL) cited the election of André Ceciliano (PT), in 2019, when five members were arrested in Operation Furna da Onça.
“This created a precedent for us to vote with 69 deputies,” he stated.
The decision to hold the election, despite warnings, increases the risk of judicialization of the process and could lead to new disputes in the Federal Supreme Court over the validity of the result and, consequently, over who should command the state.
Considered one of the PL’s names in the race for state government, Douglas Ruas, 37, gained prominence when he was chosen by the senator as the party’s candidate for the Guanabara Palace. The PL even announced one, with the former mayor of Nova Iguaçu Rogério Lisboa as vice-president.
In his first term in the Legislative Assembly of Rio, Ruas was elected in 2022 as the second most voted state deputy in the state, with around 176 thousand votes, with a base concentrated in São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region of Rio. Son of the city’s mayor, Captain Nelson (PL), he built his political base under the influence of the group led by his father and federal deputy Altineu Côrtes (PL), one of the party’s main leaders in the state.
Bachelor of Law and civil servant in the Civil Police, Ruas, as sub-secretary of Labor of São Gonçalo, regional superintendent of Inea (State Environmental Institute) and municipal secretary responsible for articulating projects and raising funds.
