Minister of the STF rejected request for the new president of Alerj to take over as head of the state Executive
The minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Cristiano Zanin decided, this Friday (24), that the president of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ), judge Ricardo Couto, will continue in the position of interim governor of the state. The determination bars the request from the PSD State Directorywho was trying to transfer command of the Guanabara Palace to state deputy Douglas Ruas, (Alerj).
Rio de Janeiro does not have a permanent governor since — which occurred one day before the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) ruled on the revocation of his mandate — and the loss of mandate of the then president of Alerj, Rodrigo Bacelar.
With the fall of both, the president of TJ-RJ took over the government on an interim basis. However, on April 17th, Alerj elected Douglas Ruas as its new president. Faced with the “new fact”, the PSD sued the Supreme Court arguing that, according to the line of succession, it would now be up to the head of the state Legislature to assume the role of acting governor.
In his decision, minister Cristiano Zanin stated that Alerj’s internal election does not change what had already been defined by the STF plenary. Zanin recalled that, on April 9, the Supreme Court halted the judgment on the case, but the president of the STF, minister Edson Fachin, stated in the minutes that the president of the TJ-RJ should be maintained with “all the powers and prerogatives inherent to the Head of the Executive Branch” until the Supreme Court concludes the trial.
“In other words, according to the context of the case, the election held on 17/4/2026 for President of ALERJ (…) may have internal effects, but it does not have the power to modify the decision proclaimed in the judgment of the Plenary of the Supreme Court”, said Zanin in the document.
Direct vs indirect elections
The political crisis in Rio de Janeiro still awaits a definitive outcome in the STF. The Court carries out a judgment to define the form how the next official governor will be chosen.
The TSE had determined that indirect elections should be held – when state deputies choose the governor –. However, at the end of March, Zanin granted an injunction suspending this decision, under the argument that Cláudio Castro’s resignation on the eve of his impeachment was a “fraud” of the Court and that, according to electoral rules, the population of Rio de Janeiro should choose the new governor through direct elections.
The judgment of this injunction by the STF plenary began in April, but it was (more time for analysis) by minister Flávio Dino.
