Congress has a history of PECs to change the STF; understand in infographics – 10/04/2023 – Power

The National Congress has already had at least 69 PECs (proposed amendments to the Constitution) to try to change the rules for appointments to the STF (Supreme Federal Court). The President of the Republic is responsible for choosing the name and nominating it, and the Senate is responsible for deciding on its approval.

This Tuesday (3), Minister Gilmar Mendes, from the STF, criticized the proposal for court judges to have a mandate. Gilmar said that they “resurrected the idea” and that, “from what is said, the proposal will be accompanied by the allocation of vacancies, for the benefit of certain bodies”.

Gilmar’s statement comes one day after the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), once again defended that STF ministers have a mandate, in addition to raising the minimum age for joining the court.

As shown by Sheet in a recent report, two proposals from 2019 are being processed in the Senate, the first year of Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) government, which was marked by attacks on members of the STF. One attempts to create an eight-year term for the court and the other seeks to divide the prerogative of choice between the president, Senate and Chamber.

Among the authors of the texts are politicians from different ideological spectrums, such as the former deputy and president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, the former deputy and Minister of Justice in the Lula government, Flávio Dino, and the former senator and former president Fernando Collor.

Dino’s text was presented in 2009, during the second Lula government, and suggests an 11-year term with a three-year quarantine after leaving the court. He also proposed dividing Powers by nomination and adopting the triple list model. The PEC authored by the current minister was attached to another with similar content.