With a history of continuity of groups in power, the election of the -SP (Brazilian Bar Association of São Paulo) scheduled for the 21st has as its agenda the debate on renewing the command of the entity, in addition to criticism of relations with party politics on the part of candidates.
While the current group seeks to continue leading the country’s largest section for another three years, the previous president is also trying to return to command of the entity, with the support of names who led the institution in São Paulo for almost two decades.
With closed slates that reach almost 200 members, campaigns that involve the capital and the interior and no rule prohibiting re-election, the design of the OAB-SP election ends up being a challenge for the emergence of new groups.
A new feature this year is that voting will be online. The expectation is that, as a result, there will be less abstention.
The current president of OAB-SP, .
Elected with the agenda against re-election, she is a candidate for federal councilor on the current ticket. He has, however, been prominent in the campaign, in which he seeks to place his current vice president, as the new president on a continuity ticket.
Patricia’s predecessor and candidate this year, in 2021, but was defeated. The following year, he ran for the Chamber of Deputies for . Criticized by opponents of the movement, he argues that he had the defense of law as his flag and that he disaffiliated before entering the Order’s dispute.
Sica says he sees the mixture of party politics with the OAB as harmful. Asked about trying to stay in power, he states that renewal is not just about people, but about practices. Caio criticizes the current administration as being weak in institutional dialogue, suffering defeats in the Legislature and the Judiciary.
The presence of Luiz Flávio D’Urso, president of OAB-SP for three consecutive terms, as a federal advisor on the ticket reinforces criticism of renewal against Caio’s group — which also has the support of another former president: Marcos da Costa, today secretary in the government of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) and who in the last election supported Patricia’s ticket.
D’Urso’s deputy at the time, he was the current candidate in 2012 — in a similar movement to that seen now with Sica. That year, D’Urso had left the Order to run for vice-mayor on Celso Russomanno’s (then PRB) ticket. Caio Augusto, who served on Marcos da Costa’s board for two terms, opened dissent in 2018 and ended up winning against him.
The group also had public support from Marcos Pereira, federal deputy and president of the Republicans, and has as its vice-president Angela Gandra Martins, daughter of Ives Gandra and former secretary of the government of (). A name more linked to the progressive field on the ticket is .
In 2021, , with around three percentage points of difference. Already, a criminal lawyer and member of the Prerrogativas group, created in reaction to Lava Jato and linked to the left camp, was left out of the dispute, despite having had conversations with two candidates. In the last election, she came in third place, with 10% of the votes.
With a strong wave to the right, he tries for the second time to lead the São Paulo sectional. As vice-president, he brings professor Maristela Basso, from USP. With figures from the Bolsonarist camp on his ticket, he posted, for example, an interview in which he is praised by the former president.
On Instagram, Scaff has made several joint posts with the lawyer and, and the Bolsonaro state deputy, deputy leader of the Tarcísio government in the Legislative Assembly.
He argues that the OAB must be non-partisan and cannot be a “political party trick”. When asked about his support coming only from the right, he says he accepts support from any side and will talk to everyone if elected.
Another panel is headed by , who has participated in several OAB-SP administrations, having been president of the OAB-SP Ethics and Discipline Court during Caio’s administration. His deputy is professor and doctor in human rights Lucineia Rosa.
He uses the term throwback to refer to the former president’s ticket and criticizes the arrangement made by Sica and Patricia — arguing that they maintain almost the same current configuration and still use the president’s name in the campaign.
According to Kauffmann, his ticket is different, as it is made up of different groups, such as the one that sought to make a more progressive one possible, made up of black, peripheral and LGBTQIA+ people.
Lawyer Renato Ribeiro also claims to have a diverse ticket, in addition to representing the interior of São Paulo. He says he brought together both Bolsonarists and leftists to form a ticket. He stands against what he classifies as an elitist OAB that is distant from the legal profession. His deputy is Adriana de Morais, a specialist in law and race relations.
He criticizes Caio Augusto’s candidacy, which he sees as directly linked to party politics and says the same about Sica, citing the fact that the current vice-president is the nephew of Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL.
HAS Sheet Sica classifies the use of kinship in the election as opportunism, and states that, apart from the emotional relationship, he has no other type of connection with his uncle.
Paulo Quissi, who is heading his third term at the Carapicuíba OAB, highlights the fact that he is a subsection president who will run for the sectional.
Founder of an association of entrepreneurial lawyers, he has positioned himself as someone who experiences and knows the reality of lawyers who work in agreements between the OAB and the Public Defender’s Office. He also criticizes former president Caio Augusto’s group for its role in party politics. His deputy is Fabiana Quezada, who founded the society on the use of family constellation in law.
X-ray
- The largest section in the country, OAB-SP has around 384 thousand registered lawyers. In Brazil, there are just over 1.4 million
- In 2024, the budget of the São Paulo entity was R$535.6 thousand. When contacted, OAB Nacional did not inform its most recent budget
- The OAB-SP election takes place on November 21st, online, from 9am to 5pm
- Each ticket for the sectional has up to 196 members, in total six groups are competing
- There are also another 386 panels, made up of 5 members, competing in the 257 subsections spread across the state.
REGISTERED PLATES
- “New Order” Plate
Alfredo Scaff Filho
Maristela Basso
- Plate “Caio + Gandra + D’Urso #For Order”
Caio Augusto Silva dos Santos
Angela Vidal Gandra Martins
- Plate “Kauffmann and Lucineia OAB United”
Carlos Kauffman
Lucineia Rosa
- “OAB Always Forward” plate
Leonardo Sica
Daniela Magalhães
- “Muda OAB” plate
Paulo Quissi
Fabiana Quezada
- “OAB Popular” plate
Renato Ribeiro de Almeida
Adriana de Morais
