Girão says that the siege of military personnel in the CPMI is an attempt to change article 142

Federal deputy General Girão (PL-RN) stated on the program Assunto Capital, from People’s Gazettethat government parliamentarians were trying to use the alleged denunciation to the police of lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid, the former aide-de-camp of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), to promote changes in article 142 of the Constitution, which deals with the role of the Forces Armed.

“What is happening in relation to the Armed Forces is because they [parlamentares governistas] are in foreshadowing of getting the signatures to get a PEC [Proposta de Emenda Constitucional] which will change 142. It will take away from 142 the possibility of using the Guarantee of Law and Order”, stated Girão.

Click here and see the program in full.

He made reference to an idea by parliamentarians from the Workers’ Party to create a PEC to change the role of the Armed Forces in the Constitution. The proposal was raised at the beginning of the year by deputy Carlos Zarattini (PT-SP), but did not receive sufficient support in the Chamber.

In theory, such a change could make it clear in the constitutional text that the Armed Forces cannot receive the attribution of “moderating power”, maintaining the balance between powers. It could also put an end to the so-called Law and Order Guarantee Operations – a scenario in which the military is called in when states are unable to maintain public security or help the population in calamities.

“They [parlamentares governistas] They want to do this by creating a National Guard that will be in the hands of a Minister of Justice or whoever, because they want to create the Ministry of Public Security. This is a situation they may have been wanting because they felt that the Armed Forces are the great guarantors,” he said.

If an intervention were carried out anchored in article 142 of the Constitution, however, it could be considered a crime of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law (described in article 359-L of the Penal Code) or a coup d’état (article 359-M of the same Code ).

The report found that despite being against military intervention, the Army High Command is not in favor of creating a PEC to change the constitutional role of the Armed Forces.

Cid’s alleged denunciation is being used to siege military personnel in the CPMI

Leaks in the press last week about Cid’s alleged denunciation to the police suggested that the former aide-de-camp had stated that Bolsonaro discussed last year with senior officers of the Armed Forces the possibility of activating Article 142 of the Constitution to justify a military intervention in politics.

This information is being used by government supporters to create the mistaken narrative that Bolsonaro and a small circle of military personnel had attempted a failed coup d’état.

A People’s Gazette found that officers in favor of the intervention spoke with Bolsonaro about the interpretation of article 142. But the understanding prevailed in the Army that the article could not be activated. In the Navy, according to leaks from last week, the admiralty would have been in favor of intervention. Bolsonaro then discarded the hypothesis.

This debate served as a pretext for government officials to summon the former minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet in the Bolsonaro government, General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, to testify on Tuesday (26). Parliamentarians also tried to summon the former commander of the Navy, Admiral Almir Garnier, but the request did not go ahead.

When asked whether the government members are trying to attribute blame to a small group linked to the former president, when the debate on article 142 was widespread in society, Girão stated that he believes that the government members’ ultimate objective is not just to attribute blame, but to make the change. of the article through PEC.