The president of , (-AP), was surprised by the decision of the president (PT) of the attorney general of the Union, , for a vacancy on the (Supreme Federal Court).
According to interlocutors consulted by the report, Alcolumbre and Lula did not speak directly about sending the message before the information became public. As of Tuesday afternoon, the nomination had not yet been officially received by the Senate.
The president of the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) of the Senate, Otto Alencar (-BA), told the reporter that he does not know when the Messias hearing will be scheduled at the collegiate and that he has not yet spoken to Alcolumbre about the matter.
With the Easter holiday approaching and the end of the party window, the week is empty in the Senate — sessions take place semi-in-person.
Messias has already told senators he met that he would like to have the opportunity to talk to Alcolumbre. The message was taken to the president of the Senate, but he declined to discuss it. Alcolumbre indicated that he would wait a little longer to decide on the hearing and that he would talk to Messias at another time.
In any case, supporters of Messias in the House claim that his situation is better now than in November, when the announcement of the name of the attorney general was also made without warning to Alcolumbre, who received the nomination badly and started working against the chosen one. The president of the Senate wanted to place his ally (PSD-MG) in the STF.
The calculation made behind the scenes is that Messias currently has around 56 votes in favor among 81 senators.
However, Alcolumbre’s allies claim that, contrary to the government’s thermometer, resistance to Lula’s nominee actually grew as investigations into the Banco Master scheme progressed, with the revelation of the involvement of center leaders in the scandal.
About a month ago, Alcolumbre told a senator that Messias did not have a majority of votes, according to the report.
Once formally nominated, Messias must go through a hearing at the CCJ and receive an absolute majority of votes in the plenary, that is, be approved by at least 41 senators in a secret vote.
The choice of Messias stressed the relationship between Alcolumbre and Lula, to the point that the formal appointment of the attorney general took place. Lula decided to hold off on sending the official statement until now to try to overcome the Senate president’s dissatisfaction and articulate a majority in favor of Messias.
Since the end of last year, Lula and Alcolumbre have been talking again, but the edges are not completely smoothed over. Allies are still waiting for a face-to-face meeting between them and the PT member’s invitation to a dinner with senators, similar to what he did with deputies.
In November, the president of the Senate arrived shortly after Lula’s announcement, but was forced to cancel the date for the process — as part of the strategy to gain more time.
The delay in sending became a tool to prevent Alcolumbre from working for a quick defeat of Messias and also to allow the expansion of negotiations around the name of the Union’s attorney general. Without this bureaucratic step, the Senate cannot decide whether or not to accept the nominee.
Since then, Lula discussed the nomination with the government leader in the Senate, (PT-BA), and Otto Alencar at a lunch on March 18th. According to reports, Otto told the president that Messias has a good chance of being approved.
In parallel, ministers from the Supreme Court themselves joined the campaign in favor of Messias in recent months, including the two nominated by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), André Mendonça and Kassio Nunes Marques. The dean of the court, Gilmar Mendes, and minister Cristiano Zanin also defend Messias.
