Party replaces Aldo Rebelo with the former president of the STF; former deputy reacted with a note of repudiation
Christian Democracy made official this Saturday (May 16, 2026) the pre-candidacy of Joaquim Barbosa, retired minister of the Federal Supreme Court, for the Presidency of the Republic.
With the decision, the party leaves aside the name of former deputy Aldo Rebelo, who until then held the position of pre-candidate for the party.
The announcement was made through a note signed by the national president of DC, João Caldas. The official text states that Barbosa “represents the possibility of national unity and rebuilding people’s trust in institutions”.
ALDO REBELO’S REACTION
The confirmation angered Aldo Rebelo. On his social media profiles, the former pre-candidate published a note of repudiation shortly after the announcement of the party.
Rebelo classified Barbosa’s appointment as a “affront” to everything you defend as “political relations” and referred to the party note as a “test balloon”. He declared that he does not intend to back down from the dispute over Planalto.
“Candidacies are collective projects and not specific groups and interests. I was chosen to carry out a project of unity and development in Brazil, anchored in my unblemished biography”declared the former minister and former president of the Chamber of Deputies.
WHO IS JOAQUIM BARBOSA
The first black person to preside over the STF (from 2012 to 2014), Joaquim Barbosa gained national prominence when he served as rapporteur for criminal action 470, the Mensalão case. The Minas Gerais jurist has been retired from the Court for a decade and dedicated himself to private law.
Barbosa’s name has already been floated for the Presidency of the Republic in past elections, but this is the first time that an acronym has made its pre-candidacy official.
