Opposition senators are due for a vacancy on the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
On Friday (29), the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) . The current attorney general of the Union had his name rejected by 42 votes to 34 in the Senate plenary. It was the first time in more than 130 years that senators rejected a Supreme Court nominee.
“He [Messias] was defeated for a simply political reason. And what will happen, senators? I’m going to send the Messiah again”, declared Lula during Petrobras’ investment announcement, in Sergipe.
In the view of members of the opposition, the head of the Executive has the constitutional prerogative to resend the nomination, but the Senate will not be able to hold the vote in 2026.
The group is based on an act of the Senate Board, from 2010, which could prohibit voting on a name denied by the Upper House in the same year of rejection.
According to this understanding, the vote could only take place next year, in February, when the Legislature resumes work. In 2027, however, the Senate will have a new composition after the elections. Another way to make the analysis of the indication viable would be to amend or annul the act.
The opposition’s strategy is to publicize this Senate limitation on social media to popularize the issue. To this end, deputies, senators and even influencers on the right must start publishing this limitation of Congress itself on the networks to exert pressure on a possible new appointment of Messiah and make the debate more technical and less political.
Even without considering this obstacle, leaders still assess that there is a difficult political environment for the approval of Messiah. Since the end of April, when the AGU suffered a historic defeat in the plenary, the relationship between the Senate and the Executive has been strained.
The senators’ perception is that, if Lula confirms the new nomination, the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), will also use the short time in the first semester as an argument to push the vote to next year.
The parliamentary recess is scheduled to begin on July 18. In the second semester, congressmen will focus on electoral campaigns. This, added to the Senate’s concentrated effort in voting on the PEC at the end of the 6×1, would leave the calendar for the vote very tight. As a result, the senators’ reading is that this nomination, if confirmed, would not move forward this year.
