The mayor of , Dr. Furlan (), resigned from office this Thursday (5). In a letter sent to the City Council, he stated that he is leaving his position to run for the Government of Amapá in the 2026 elections, in accordance with the constitutional requirement of removal up to six months before the election for candidates who occupy positions in the Executive.
This Wednesday (4), in an investigation into suspicions of a person within the scope of a contract signed by the Municipal Health Department of the capital of Amapá.
The president of Macapá City Council, Pedro da Lua (), took over the mayor’s office during the absence of the mayor and deputy.
The vice-mayor, Mario Neto (), the municipal secretary of Health, Erica Aranha de Sousa Aymoré, and the president of the Special Tender Committee, Walmiglisson Ribeiro da Silva, were also targets of action by order of the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court). The defenses of the deputy mayor and employees were not located.
In the document, Furlan says that the decision was motivated by “public desire” identified in voting intention surveys that, according to him, would point to his candidacy for state government.
“My decision is based on public desire, which has been materialized in numerous polls of voting intentions, which look forward to my candidacy for the position of Governor of the State of Amapá, in the 2026 election”, he wrote.
Furlan is considered a political rival of senator ) in Amapá. The mayor left the MDB on Tuesday (3) to join the PSD.
During the operation, there was a search at addresses linked to the mayor, employees and partners of the company Santa Rita Engenharia.
The investigations indicate, according to the PF, suspicions of the existence of a criminal scheme that would involve public agents and businesspeople who directed bids, diverted public resources and laundered money.
The investigation focuses on the engineering project and execution of works at the Macapá Municipal General Hospital. The warrants were carried out in Macapá, Belém and Natal.
Federal resources arising from parliamentary amendments transferred to the municipality between 2020 and 2024 are being investigated. According to a report from the Comptroller General of the Union cited in the minister’s decision, Macapá received around R$128.9 million through these special transfers, part of which was related to the construction of the Municipal General Hospital.
On social media, Furlan suggested political persecution, declared himself a pre-candidate for the Government of Amapá and spoke of “attacks, persecution and delays”.
In August last year, , who is part of the team of journalist Heverson Castro, from Portal do Amapá, after being questioned about works at the maternity hospital mentioned in the investigation.
This is the third time that the Federal Police has carried out an operation against the mayor of Macapá.
In 2024, close to the elections, he was targeted on the edge of the city. He said, at the time, that he was a victim of persecution by the opposition. The other time was in 2022, when Furlan’s wife, Rayssa Furlan (Podemos), was running for a seat in Contra Alcolumbre.
Furlan must face in the electoral race the current governor of Amapá, Clécio Luís Vieira (União Brasil), from the Alcolumbre base. The mayor was re-elected in 2024 with 85% of valid votes in the first round, the highest approval of a candidate for the municipal Executive that year.
Born in Costa Rica, Furlan is the son of Brazilians and naturalized in the country. He is a doctor and was already elected state deputy for Amapá in 2014 and 2018, before becoming mayor in 2020, after defeating Alcolumbre’s brother, Josiel (União Brasil), amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
