While the president of , (-AP), expresses his support for his friend (-MG) to be (Supreme Federal Court), the senator from Minas Gerais is currently experiencing what people close to him consider to be a dilemma.
Pacheco’s allies say that he does not hide his desire to be a Supreme Court minister. The chance seems to be knocking at the door, with retirement, the great relationship built with President Lula (PT), the Senate’s preference and his lawyer credentials.
Despite this, Pacheco depends not only on Lula’s personal desire, but also on an equation that the PT member has not yet said how he can resolve: the dispute for the government of Minas Gerais, where there are left-wing names.
Lula has already declared more than once that, if Pacheco wants, he will be his candidate for governor of Minas Gerais in 2026.
According to interlocutors, the senator has not yet decided whether he will run for office, but he knows that there is no plan B for Lula’s broad front in Minas and that the president needs a platform in the state, the second largest electoral college in the country, to run for re-election. Recently, he stated that he will do whatever the PT member wants.
Both the name of the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD), and that of Mayor Marília Campos (PT), of Contagem (largest city administered by the PT in the country), are considered unviable against Bolsonaro supporters Cleitinho (Republicans) and Matheus Simões (Novo), deputy of governor Romeu Zema (Novo).
“I’m sure we’re going to win the state of Minas Gerais with Pacheco, he knows that. All he has to do is be willing to be a candidate. If he’s a candidate, he’ll be the future governor of Minas Gerais. I hope that, within a few days, we’ll have that definition,” Lula declared on Itatiaia radio in August.
If the situation seems complex in Minas, the Alcolumbre Senate is full of solutions. Days before Barroso’s announcement, the president of the Senate told colleagues that he will work to ensure that Pacheco has the highest number of votes in history, if he is nominated for the Supreme Court.
According to a person who witnessed the scene, Alcolumbre said he wanted 80 possible votes (the president can only vote if there is a tie) and joked that Pacheco should only lose the vote of senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), a notorious defender of the impeachment of ministers, as well as being famous among his colleagues for always being against it.
Alcolumbre states in private conversations that today Pacheco has the most support among the others listed, the minister of the (Advocacy-General of the Union), the minister of the TCU (Court of Auditors of the Union), Bruno Dantas, and the controller-general of the Union, Vinicius de Carvalho.
The president of the Senate also praises his friend, whom he considers a brother. Alcolumbre says that the Supreme Court and other institutions would have a lot to gain from Pacheco’s moderating profile.
Senators also say they heard from Alcolumbre that Pacheco wore out the Minas Gerais electorate by defending democracy and confronting former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) — and that it would be legitimate, therefore, for him to be rewarded with a position as minister.
Pacheco also counts today on the defense of Supreme Court Minister Gilmar Mendes, as shown by . At a social gathering in August, Gilmar said he would choose Pacheco if he could.
“The Court needs courageous and legally prepared people. And Senator Pacheco is our candidate. This is a game for adults,” he said, implying that Pacheco has the support of other magistrates.
Pacheco is close to minister Alexandre de Moraes. It also went public in 2023.
The senator was contacted, but declined to comment on the speculation surrounding his name. Barroso announced that this Thursday (9). The minister, who is 67 years old, could remain in office until 2033, when he would turn 75 and have to retire.
“I feel that now is the time to follow other paths. I don’t even have them well defined, but I have no attachment to power and I would like to live a little more of the life I have left without the public exposure, obligations and demands of the position”, said Barroso, emotionally.
