Jorge Messias left the Senate stating that “all sorts of lies” occurred to overthrow him (and he was overthrown) since he was announced as nominated by President Lula (PT) to the STF (Supreme Federal Court). “We know who promoted all this,” he said, without naming names.
The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), openly preferred senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). Dean Minister Gilmar Mendes, too – although, in recent weeks, he has shown signs of support for Messias, who only found support within the STF with his evangelical brother André Mendonça.
During the hearing at the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission), senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE) told Messias that STF ministers were working to ensure that his name would not prosper and questioned whether the nominee.
Messiah replied: “I will do what is right. And the proof of this is this journey that I am going through. You know very well that the five months that I am traveling and this entire Via Crucis that I am going through is exactly because of these issues.”
At the CCJ, Messias gave “full support” to the discussions on the Code of Ethics in the STF; stated that criminal proceedings “are not an act of revenge”,; and said that Mendonça “makes the country proud”.
The meaning of the rejection of the Messiah for the relationship between the Three Powers was the subject of analysis in the WW this Tuesday (29).
See the highlights of the blocks and watch the full analysis:
Leonardo Barreto, partner at Think Policy consultancy: We had a watershed moment that we will remember for a long time. First, a show of strength by the national Congress, which already controls the Budget, vetoed several of this government’s agenda and, now, rejected a candidacy for the Supreme Court. And there was an important message for the Supreme Court, too: if we seek the hearing, all the criticism that Jorge Messias had to respond to concerns recent attitudes of the Federal Supreme Court. But the big loser of the night is President Lula, in a symbolic aspect: today the mythology of his political infallibility falls to the ground. Perhaps it is the worst defeat of his political life at a crucial moment for defining his fourth term.
Daniel Rittner, editorial director at CNN in Brasília: An assessment much debated by senators is that the scenario is not that Alcolumbre will be re-elected as president of the Senate in February 2027. We will have a Senate certainly more to the right and with some other suitors; Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), leader of the opposition, is the first of them. Alcolumbre has accumulated a lot of friction with the right – including impeaching a Supreme Court minister -, but he once again projects himself as a trustworthy interlocutor. Does that make him a favorite? Not necessarily, but the scenario now seems much more acceptable to him, with a right-wing Senate and possibly Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) president. “What if Lula is president?” Then he will say to Lula: “let’s reset the game. Do you prefer me or Rogério Marinho as president of the Senate?”
Thais Heredia, CNN anchor: Just as the defeat was multifactorial, the result also has multiple consequences. What is the value of the mustache hair of the politician who agreed to receive R$12 million in amendments, and probably said “yes” to the government – because the government wouldn’t say it had a vote if it didn’t? How much institutional fragility Does it imply the quality of the decisions that will be made? Even if they are like messages: how willing are political leaders to cross lines of respect for the institution to impose an agenda at a “X moment”? My concern today is not tomorrow’s stitching of Lula’s governability until the end of the government, but the size of the institutional erosion that this decision imposed.
Felipe Recondo, journalist and researcher on the STF: The opposition has always asked the president of the Senate to open an impeachment process against a STF minister, and what Alcolumbre does is an impeachment in another way, with a blockade of a candidate nominated by the government. He gives this victory to the opposition – and imposes a defeat on the government – and perhaps pave the way for his re-election for a next term as president of the Senate. And this means that the Supreme Court has “security” that it can have institutional security, regardless of who the president is elected in October. It’s more of a political thing than necessarily a response to a choice made by Jorge Messias.
WW ANALYSIS: MESSIAH IS REJECTED BY THE SENATE AMID THE STF CRISIS
WW ANALYSIS: MESSIAH IS THROWN TO THE LIONS AMID THE CRISIS IN POWERS
WW ANALYSIS: LULA’S DEFEAT IN THE SENATE INCREASES TENSION BETWEEN POWERS
* Published by Henrique Sales Barros
