The interim governor of , , stated this Tuesday (16) that he had identified a type of capture of the Executive by the Legislative when taking over the Guanabara Palace.
In a lecture promoted by the Lide group in Rio de Janeiro, the judge stated that deputies approached him to say that they controlled certain departments.
“When I took over the government temporarily, talking to some deputies, I received the following information: ‘The secretariat is mine, the secretariat is mine’. And then we must ask, is this type of management right or not? Who is the manager? Is it the head of the Executive or is it the Legislature? Today we have a worrying system, not only at the level of the state, from the perspective of the municipalities, but also at the level of the Union. We must reflect on the extent to which the head of the Executive is captured by Parliament and whether this capture is correct”, he said him, at the event held at Copacabana Palace.
Couto also linked the handover of Executive positions with the electoral period.
“A little while ago, a matter of a week, it was reported that states that were not in deficit reached the end of their current government with a deficit. Why is that? Why in the election year do we have a tendency towards public deficits in the states? What is the cost of the election? Is the cost we are seeing the real cost? Would that transfer with public funds be ideal?”, stated the interim governor.
He said it is time “to reflect on this issue, on the cost of an election, on the cost it represents to a State, on the speech of deputies mentioning that the secretariat is mine.”
The control of the Executive Branch by Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro) is the subject of an investigation by the Federal Police that investigates the role of the former deputy (União Brasil), former president of the state Legislature, in the management of the former governor ().
The judge, who is president of the Court of Justice, took over the government in March after Castro’s resignation, on the eve of the trial in which the former governor was declared ineligible by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).
Last in the line of succession, he took office because the state was without a vice-governor since Thiago Pampolha’s resignation last year to take up a vacancy at the TCE (State Audit Court). The then president of Alerj, Rodrigo Bacellar, was removed from office due to the investigation into leaked information about an operation against a former deputy linked to Comando Vermelho.
The command of the Guanabara Palace is currently the subject of a legal dispute in the STF (Supreme Federal Court). A. The , claims the position indicating that he is ahead of the magistrate in the line of succession.
Couto stated that he plans to remain in government for another three months, until the Supreme Court defines how the buffer governor will be chosen, who will lead the state until December.
“Today the forecast would be more or less 90 days. Given the idea of an election, direct or indirect, we would have a person to stay in government for the remaining period and then the elected governor would take over. I don’t know if it is the best solution. The State needs security”, he said.
He also presented a legal thesis that would justify his stay, despite the line of succession indicating precedence of the president of Alerj.
“In this case, it seems, the Supreme Court has been making an option by mentioning that what matters is the date of the event giving rise to the assumption. When the double vacancy occurred, the person who would have legitimacy would only be the president of the court. And placing the president of the court and then, in the following months, placing the president of Alerj and then, in the following months, placing an elected governor would bring tremendous insecurity. The option so far for the Supreme Court has been the option for security”, he stated.
Couto also said that he has no political bias and that he does not intend to launch a possible candidacy. He said he avoided criticizing the administration that preceded him, led by Castro, but questioned the number of secretariats maintained in the administration.
“I don’t like to criticize and, because I’m not a politician, and I wasn’t elected, I don’t feel entitled to a more intense criticism. But, when looking at the state with a vision of adequate management, I asked myself why 32 secretariats in the state of Rio de Janeiro? The state of Rio de Janeiro is the state with the largest number of secretariats”, he said.
“Rio de Janeiro intends to reduce the secretariats. Why? Because, due to a political situation, due to a different, unexpected situation, the person who places himself in the Executive does not intend to be elected, re-elected, he does not intend to do anything. He intends to comply with the idea of legality and deliver the State as it must be delivered.”
