André Mendonça praises Bolsonaro at dinner with lulistas – 05/22/2023 – Mônica Bergamo

The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) André Mendonça was received on Friday (19) at a dinner at the house of lawyer Roberto Podval, in São Paulo.

The lawyer is part of the Prerogativas group, which organized Mendonça’s meeting with legal professionals.

The meeting was celebrated as the laying of a cornerstone for building a bridge between opposing forces in the country: Mendonça was nominated by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for the STF in the “terribly evangelical” quota that the then president promised to allocate to his religious supporters.

Their expectation is that the minister, in office, will be conservative at least in the area of ​​customs.

Prerogativas, on the other hand, was notable for initially fighting what it defines as Operation Lava Jato abuses – and for later making scathing opposition to Bolsonaro.

All of its members supported the election of Lula (PT) to the Presidency, and part of its members is in the government.

The magistrate’s smooth and aggregating personality motivated the lawyers to organize what they called “a dialogue with the honorable Justice André Mendonça about his first year on the Supreme Court”.

The dinner was initially organized for 40 people, but more than 120 ended up attending.
Both sides extended their hands without, however, ceasing to firm up their position.

Podval, for example, stated that it was “the beginning of a great friendship” between the lawyers and “a great minister of whom we are going to be proud”. And he pointed out: “Even coming by the hand of those who came”, referring to Bolsonaro.

Mendonça, on the other hand, made a point of recalling, in a flattering tone, stories with Bolsonaro, such as when he was nominated to be Minister of Justice. Or when, according to him, the then president followed his advice and did not politicize the fact that states governed by the opposition presented negative numbers in the area of ​​security.

“I speak little and listen a lot”, said Mendonça.

He also recalled that, upon taking over as Advocacy General of the Union (AGU) in the Bolsonaro government, he made a point of calling one of his predecessors, José Eduardo Cardozo, who was Minister of Justice under Dilma Rousseff (PT) and to this day advocates for the former president.

Cardozo was facing a lawsuit for acts at the AGU. Mendonça advised him that the defense of the cases would be coordinated by his own office.

“That’s why it makes me sad when we waste time looking at our differences and fail to move forward because we don’t see what unites us.”

Mendonça pondered that he will continue to be conservative in customs, “or I will stop being André”.
“But there are so many common things we can work on together,” he reaffirmed.

Mendonça also said that “everything is reciprocal” in human relationships. “I want respect, I need respect”. And he said he hoped that lawyers “also look at the moment we are living, at the perspective of Brazil that we want to build in the light of the fact that injustices are unfair in relation to anyone, and that what is fair is also fair in relation to any one”.

The magistrate also spoke about religion.

“Evangelicals know the prejudices they suffer, as do black people and women too. And that leaves wounds,” he said. “The André who entered the Supreme Court has some missions before God, his wife and his children: to maintain integrity and be fair”, also having “weighting and balance” and keeping discretion.

Former STF minister Ricardo Lewandowski also spoke, and praised Mendonça even for his religiosity.

“Being religious is an extraordinary advantage. In a moment of perplexity, we have a man who has values ​​in the Supreme Court,” he said. “What do we expect from a STF minister? What does the Constitution say? That he needs to have an unblemished reputation and remarkable legal knowledge. But what we expect, above all, is that he has character. .”

Lawyer Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, who coordinates Prerogativas and organized the event, stated that the time is now to “rebuild, reconcile and seek consensus”.

He praised Mendonça’s “public spirit” and his commitment to democracy.

He took the opportunity to ask for the minister’s vote on the action that implements the guarantees judge in the country – the one who judges after another magistrate has conducted the investigations, as a way of keeping distance between prosecution and defense.

“You can’t meet with a judge without making an order,” he said, in a joking tone.

Marco Aurélio de Carvalho even sent messages: “We don’t believe in super judges or super powers. What we defend for Chico, we defend for Francisco”.

Mendonça also said he was “happy to find, in lawyer Marco Aurélio, the same willingness to focus on convergences”.

_{with BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS It is MANOELLA SMITH}

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