Dino’s victory destroys the illusion of a combative Senate against STF abuses

The approval of the nomination of Flávio Dino, Minister of Justice, for the vacancy of member of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) shattered an illusion that had been growing in sectors of the Brazilian right: that the Senate could be a lifeline against abuses committed by members of the Court.

In recent months, signals and statements from the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), combined with some initiatives from right-wing senators, had rekindled the hope of a reaction from Congress to the Supreme Court.

After the Federal Senate approved, in November, the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 8/2021, which limits individual decisions by ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), confidence in congressmen’s reaction to judicial activism grew.

But, with the broad approval of Dino’s name by the Senate, the mood changed. On social media, right-wing influencers and politicians expressed disappointment with the senators, who gave 47 votes in favor of making one of the most radical names in the current PT government a STF minister.

“The Senate betrays itself, the country and Justice by nominating Dino to the Supreme Court,” said writer and commentator Adrilles Jorge.

Federal deputy Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Bragança (PL-SP) wrote that “the Senate took the most irresponsible decision of this legislature considering the unlimited power that the STF currently commands”. “The perception that no public institution is capable of protecting citizenship and the Constitution becomes a reality,” he lamented.

In a video published on his networks, deputy Gustavo Gayer (PL-GO) stated that the problem “is not Flávio Dino himself”, but the fact that senators who vote in this way were elected. “We lost this battle. Because senators don’t love Brazil, they don’t care about their voters, about the Constitution,” said Gayer.

Indication of the name by Lula already signaled that Dino would be approved

For Paulo Kramer, PhD in Political Science from the University Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ), there was no surprise in Dino’s approval. When President Lula (PT) decided to take the current Minister of Justice to be questioned, he probably already had the conviction that the senators would approve him.

“The result didn’t surprise me. I knew from the beginning that Dino would pass. I didn’t risk betting by how much, but I was pleasantly surprised by the block of 31 votes against his nomination”, he says.

Kramer points out that the holding of events such as a hearing in Brazil tends to be heavily influenced by behind-the-scenes politics. The results tend to be finalized before the event, although politicians can take advantage of the public attention they receive electorally.

“In Brazil, public hearings are heavily negotiated. The Brazilian Congress does not yet have the North American habit of harshly confronting those questioned. In the American Senate, when a White House nominee is heard, the senators from the same party as the president of the Republic make a point of presenting the toughest, most difficult questions, precisely to reaffirm their independence. In Brazil, these hearings rarely fail anyone. Everything is very negotiated”, he says.

For Kramer, “Dino’s appointment is part of the government’s plan, the left’s plan, to make Brazil’s right politically unviable.” “But I don’t think they will succeed, because, unlike Lula, who hardly allowed any new leadership to emerge in his field, the Bolsonaro wave made it possible for the emergence and multiplication of right-wing leaders in Brazil”, he assesses.

Janaina Paschoal, former state deputy (PRTB-SP) and doctor in Criminal Law from the University of São Paulo (USP), was also not surprised by the result. “At no point did I believe that the Minister would be blocked,” she says. “I think people are deluded by this story that Congress is right-wing.”

For her, it is difficult to believe that the majority of the Senate or Pacheco are really willing to combat the abuses of the STF. “Some senators, I believe, actually feel as they say. I give Senator [Eduardo] Girão [Novo-CE]. Now, regarding the Senate president’s speeches, with great respect, I say that, in my opinion, they are just theater. Just theater,” he states.

Furthermore, in Janaina’s view, many right-wingers who won in the 2022 elections, including with the support of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), “never had any determination to guarantee the independence” of Congress in relation to the STF. “I’m not even talking about standing up, but about guaranteeing independence”, he concludes.