Facade of the headquarters building of the Federal Supreme Court – STF.| Photo: Marcello Casal Jr / Agência Brasil.

Entities that act against corruption defended this Thursday (30) the broad debate in society about any change that may be in the Law of State-Owned Companies. On the 17th, the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Ricardo Lewandowski removed the need to quarantine government ministers, state or municipal secretaries to take over the Board of Directors and directors of state-owned companies. The Court must analyze the minister’s decision in the virtual plenary from this Friday (31) until April 12.

In a note, the Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility, the Instituto Não Accept Corruption (INAC) and Transparência Brasil stressed that “any legislative change must consider the positive leaps in efficiency and preserve the integrity mechanisms inaugurated by the law”. These three institutions had already expressed their views last week on Lewandowski’s decision, which they classified as a setback.

“Faced with this, it is important to discuss the need to consider mechanisms that prevent conflicts of interest in the management of state-owned companies. It is imperative that the discussion on the change in legislation deserves significant space within the scope of public debate, with broad participation of civil society and public agents in general”, say the entities.

The organizations reinforce that the quarantine period for politicians to assume positions in state-owned companies “aims to reduce potential conflicts of interest in the management of public companies and mixed-capital companies by determining a period in which political agents are prevented from holding positions of direction or management ”.