The last time the Senate had rejected a nomination from the President of the Republic to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) — as happened on Wednesday with Jorge Messias — was 132 years ago, on November 17, 1894. Those blocked, through a secret vote, were general Francisco Raymundo Ewerton Quadros and lawyer Demosthenes da Silveira Lobo, both chosen by then president Floriano Peixoto.
The reasons for the nominations not to prosper were different, according to historians. The soldier was not considered due to his lack of notable legal knowledge, a newly created rule. The second’s refusal was motivated by accusations received against him, in the midst of a political impasse.
With the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the then Supreme Court of Justice of the Empire was succeeded by the Federal Supreme Court. Therefore, Floriano Peixoto was able to make 15 nominations. However, five were rejected by the Senate, all in 1894. Since then, this has never happened again until Wednesday with Messiah.
According to the article “On the refusal of appointments to the Federal Supreme Court by the Senate”, by Maria Ângela Jardim de Santa Cruz Oliveira, master in Law from Harvard Law School, the first person rejected was the doctor Cândido Barata Ribeiro, back in 1893. At that time, the nominees did not wait for Senate approval to take office. Thus, he spent ten months in the position until his name was rejected on September 24th. On that day, the rule was created, which still exists today, that the candidate must have notable legal knowledge.
Two weeks later, on October 6, it was the turn of deputy attorney of the Republic Antônio Caetano Seve Navarro and bachelor general Innocencio Galvão de Queiroz to be blocked by the Senate. Four other candidates were approved at the time.
Political pressure
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Finally, on November 17, the Senate considered another five names nominated by Floriano Peixoto. Of these, three were approved and two, Ewerton Quadros and Demosthenes Lobo, refused. Floriano Peixoto’s government had ended two days earlier, and the new nominations passed to the next president, Prudente de Morais.
“The non-acceptance of the nomination of General Ewerton Quadros did not cause any major surprises. The senators’ speeches were not long, and the vote was light, based on the precedent established previously in the sense that anyone who does not have remarkable legal knowledge cannot be a minister of the Federal Supreme Court”, reveals researcher Santa Cruz Oliveira, in an article from 2009.
However, the case of lawyer Demosthenes Lobo, then director general of the Post Office, was the main point of debate in the secret session. This refusal, according to her, had a “strong political nature” — in a scenario similar to what Messias experienced on Wednesday.
The newspaper Gazeta de Notícias published in the following day’s edition that a senator made “the most serious accusations against Mr. Demosthenes” for almost two hours in the gallery and that he was replaced by another parliamentarian in the task, “as a result of which 17 senators voted for Mr. Demosthenes against 19”. According to the researcher, the minutes of the Senate’s secret sessions were lost and, therefore, the content of the accusations against him is unknown.
