The campaign by ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court) with senators to try to approve the appointment of a new member of the court included the “superpower” of influence of , a change in position of and a surprise meeting at the house of .
Magistrates say they are optimistic about the effects of coordinated action and expect Messias to be approved, albeit by a tight score. It is scheduled for this Wednesday (29). , the government (PT) also intensified the offensive in favor of Messias, negotiating positions and amendments to guarantee approval.
As soon as Messiah was, in November last year, Mendonça became Messiah, helping to reduce the resistance shown by the evangelical bench. Although appointed by ideologically opposing governments, religion is a common point between them, as is their career at the (Advocacy General of the Union).
Parliamentarians report that the influence of Mendonça —appointed by the former president (PL)— grew after he became the rapporteur of two potentially explosive criminal investigations for the Republic: one into the embezzlement of the (National Social Security Institute) and the other into the financial fraud of the .
Mendonça counted on the minister’s help to try to convince opposition senators that Messias, despite being Lula’s AGU and having been deputy head of legal affairs in Dilma Rousseff’s government, is not part of the classic PT militancy and can help strengthen the most conservative wing of the Supreme Court.
To Bolsonaro interlocutors, the judges stated that Messias, in addition to having a technical profile, would represent a significant change of position in relation to his predecessor in the court, the minister, especially in the so-called “customary issues”, which involve issues such as abortion and drugs.
Dean of the STF, Gilmar started to support Messias in the final stretch of the campaign. Initially, he was an enthusiast of the nomination of the former president of the Senate (PSB-MG), as he himself said. still in August, before Barroso retired.
“The court needs courageous and legally prepared people”, said the dean to the Mônica Bergamo column. “And Senator Pacheco is our candidate. The STF is a game for adults,” he said, implying that other ministers also supported the parliamentarian’s name to join the court.
Messias’s appointment frustrated Pacheco’s supporters, including the current president of the Senate, (-AP). The indisposition led him to schedule the hearing for December, before the Palácio do Planalto made the presidential message official. The date ended up being postponed, but Alcolumbre accused Lula of .
Gilmar, however, did not remain in the chorus of discontent and began to defend Messias not only in private conversations with senators but also publicly. , wrote that the “empty criticisms” of AGU ignore its “qualified CV, marked by vast experience in public administration and solid academic training”.
Ministers and parliamentarians see the dean’s actions as an attempt to get Messias to join his group within the STF, which is opposed to Mendonça’s. The court today on the best way to face the court’s crises, given the repercussions of the Master case and a possible increase in attacks during the elections.
To overcome the difficulty of obtaining one with Alcolumbre, Messias enlisted the help of Zanin. Invited by the minister to a dinner at his home in Brasília, the president of the Senate ended up surprised when the host asked if the attorney general could join the group.
Alcolumbre did not object, but reported an awkward atmosphere to assistants. Messias openly asked for the support of the senator, who preferred not to commit, just to guarantee that Lula’s nominee to the STF would be treated with respect and that the rite of hearing would be fully complied with.
