Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), indicated that the action that discusses the election model for the government of Rio de Janeiro should only be released for judgment after the definitive conclusion of the case at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
To interlocutors, Dino stated that he awaits the judgment of the motions for clarification still pending at the TSE to return the request for review to the Supreme Court, as he understands that the Electoral Court’s analysis is a necessary condition for the process to advance in the STF.
GLOBO found that, as soon as the TSE completes the trial and the embargo ruling is published by the Electoral Court, Dino intends to request the inclusion of the case on the STF agenda. Members of the Supreme Court consider that these definitions are essential to avoid conflicting decisions between the courts.
The case deals with the definition of how to choose the new governor of Rio after the departure of the holder of the position, an issue that opened a legal dispute between direct and indirect elections. The action is under analysis by the STF following an injunction by Minister Cristiano Zanin that suspended the holding of indirect elections.
Dino’s position reinforces the reading, within the STF, that the outcome in the TSE is a key element in defining the case. This is because the discussion about the nature of the vacancy — whether electoral or administrative — depends directly on the conclusions of the Electoral Court.
The embargoes were presented by both Castro’s defense and the Public Electoral Ministry.
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The deputy electoral attorney general, Alexandre Espinosa, maintains that there was an “omission” and “contradiction” in the ruling by not expressly declaring the revocation of the former governor’s diploma, despite the Court having recognized the practice of abuse of power.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Castro’s resignation on the eve of the trial would not prevent the revocation of the diploma, it would only jeopardize the loss of his mandate. For the Prosecutor’s Office, failing to apply this sanction could create a “deleterious incentive” for strategies to avoid electoral punishments. Therefore, he maintains that there was a misuse of purpose in the resignation on the eve of the election, which, in practice, should lead to direct elections.
As O GLOBO showed, the embargoes must be judged under a new composition of the electoral court, which could influence the final result and, consequently, the understanding of the STF.
The rapporteur will be with minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, who took over the vacancy left by Isabel Gallotti at the TSE and, therefore, inherited the rapporteurship of the case. As he did not participate in the trial that condemned Castro, it will be up to him to conduct the analysis of the embargoes, a type of appeal used to clarify omissions, contradictions or obscurities in the decision.
Furthermore, the composition of the Court may change again before the case is considered. The president of the TSE, Cármen Lúcia, leaves the court on June 3rd, within the rotation system that governs the electoral court. As a result, the possibility increases that the trial will already take place with the presence of Minister Dias Toffoli, who should assume the position as head. The trial does not yet have a date.
