PSD lawyer, Thiago Fernandes Boverio, compared Rio de Janeiro to Gotham City and said that, if the indirect election for the buffer mandate is held, “it is easier to elect the Joker than Batman”. The speech was made during his oral argument in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) trial, which will define how the next governor of the state will be chosen.
— I believe that Rio de Janeiro became Gotham City. If an indirect election is held, it is easier to elect the Joker than Batman. The situation is complicated, Your Excellencies — said the lawyer.
Starting this Wednesday afternoon, the trial’s central point is the discussion about the effects of the resignation of former governor Cláudio Castro and should be marked by a series of messages, along the lines of what happened when the former president was sentenced by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
As shown by the Globothe biggest expectation of the trial revolves around the vote of three ministers — Luiz Fux, rapporteur of one of the actions on the agenda and one of the first to speak out in the trial; Toffoli Days; and Edson Fachin, president of the Court. Previously, four other ministers, Alexandre de Moraes, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino and Gilmar Mendes, have already defended direct elections.
Understand the differences
What should divide the interpretations in the STF is why the positions of governor and deputy were vacant at the same time: whether they are for electoral reasons — the conviction by the TSE — or not. Such reasons imply the conduct of the election in the state.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes addressed this difference when the Rio elections began to be debated by the STF, still in a virtual trial on the rules of indirect elections.
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The case was taken to the STF’s in-person plenary session, at Zanin’s request, precisely because of the debate over the form of the election, whether direct or not.
At the time, when defending direct elections, Moraes acknowledged Castro’s resignation, but pointed out a “deviation of purpose” in it. The minister highlighted that, in the case of Rio, the vacuum in the Executive is the result of electoral condemnation, and the rule of indirect election, of state law, should not be applied, but rather the provision of the Electoral Code, with the determination of the election with popular vote.
In the vote, Moraes made numerous criticisms of Castro’s resignation, stating, for example, that there is no “suitable explanation” for the act.
Behind the scenes, certain weight is attributed to the current that defends direct elections precisely through demonstrations. Furthermore, other ministers joined the chorus, such as Zanin. He classified the resignation as a “mechanism to circumvent the authority of the Electoral Court”.
Thus, the expectation is that, in this afternoon’s trial, the magistrates will reinforce their messages, along the lines of what happened when Castro was convicted at the TSE. On that occasion, minister Cármen Lúcia, for example, criticized “continuing cases in which Rio’s government officials leave office on the eve of trials on practices that are absolutely contrary to the Constitution”.
