On Wednesday (19/07), a group of deputies and senators filed in the Senate a request for the impeachment of Supreme Federal Court (STF) Minister Luís Roberto Barroso after his speech on Bolsonarism at a National Union of Students (UNE) event last week.
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The Impeachment Request
The request was filed by Senators Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) and Jorge Seif (PL), and deputies Carlos Jordy (PL) and Cabo Gilberto Silva (PL). According to them, at least 11 senators and 70 deputies from ten parties signed the document. The parties were: PL, MDB, Novo, União Brasil, PSDB, PP, Podemos, Republicans, PSD and Patriota. There are 81 senators and 513 deputies in total. The authors of the quest believe that the number of signatures will rise as the political recess of July comes to an end, and congressmen start to return to Brasília.
Barroso’s Statement
On 12 July, Barroso stated that “we defeated Bolsonarism”, which provoked reactions from deputies allied with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), as well as the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD). The declaration, especially during a UNE conference – student movement historically aligned to the left and opposed to Bolsonaro –, led to wear and tear on the Supreme Court, which mobilized to explain the statements with the release of two official notes in less than 24 hours, on behalf of the court and on behalf of the minister, to refute the accusations of political and party action by the minister and all court members.
The STF said that Barroso made reference “to the popular vote and not to the performance of any institution”. The minister stated that he did not want to offend Bolsonaro voters and that he was referring to “coup-mongering extremism”.
Bad Move for the Opposition?
On Gazeta do Povo, constitutionalist lawyer Vera Chemin, gave her perspective of the case. Chemin understand that the chances of the complaint against Barroso being accepted by the Senate is remote. But she points out that such a situation could have significant implications, and it could favor the government and harm the opposition.
Since Barroso is scheduled to become the STF next president from October, with Luís Edson Fachin as vice, if the impeachment process is accepted, he would be suspended from his functions until the outcome of the case. Thus, during this period, Fachin would take over as president, and Alexandre de Moraes would be vice president. This scenario could mean the expansion of the powers of ministers Fachin and Moraes, which could influence the selection of cases for the agenda of trials sessions, accelerating the analysis of actions against Bolsonaro and other members of his political group. Moreover, if Barroso is really removed from the STF, Lula could have an additional opportunity to appoint a new judge for the court.
Source: Folha de SP, Gazeta do Povo.
