Lula appoints Paulo Gonet to head the PGR – 12/15/2023 – Power

President Lula (PT) signed this Friday (15) the decree appointing Paulo Gonet as Attorney General of the Republic.

He takes the position in place of Augusto Aras after having his nomination approved by the Senate last Wednesday (13). The inauguration is scheduled for Monday (18).

Paulo Gonet has been deputy attorney general since 2012. In recent years, he served as director general of the Higher School of the Public Ministry of the Union and as deputy attorney general for Electoral, appointed by Aras himself.

In his last position, he was responsible for presenting requests for the ineligibility of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in trials by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

Despite his position against the former president, he has the support of parliamentarians considered conservative and Bolsonaro supporters. It was approved by the Senate by 65 votes to 11, gathering support from government and opposition members.

During a hearing in the Senate, Gonet stated that freedom of expression is not absolute and that it can be modulated “according to the circumstances”. Gonet was questioned about the topic by senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), leader of the opposition.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office will always seek to preserve all fundamental rights”, said Gonet, adding that “when any of them come into conflict with other constitutional values, they deserve to be considered, and to know which will be predominant in a given situation”.

“Freedom of expression is not complete. It can and should be modeled according to circumstances,” he stated.

Gonet cited the elections as an example of these circumstances. He mentioned an episode in which a decision prohibited a report from being published on election day, because it contained attacks on one of the candidates, who could not speak out in opposition.

“[O Ministério Público deve] guarantee the legitimacy of elections to the extent that the voter is not exposed to information that cannot be contradicted, cannot be countered, and ends up vitiating the voter’s will”, he stated.

The nominee defended that the role of the Attorney General of the Republic should be institutional and that the person in the position should have the courage to resist “the charm and seduction of shining at a given moment, of obtaining effervescent support from the public at a given moment.”

With this speech, Gonet contrasted himself with attorneys general who came before him, at the height of Lava Jato, such as Rodrigo Janot. The former attorney general is disaffected by Gonet’s former partner and godfather of his nomination, the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Gilmar Mendes.

In his first session at the TSE after being approved by the Senate, Paulo Gonet praised Minister Alexandre de Moraes, from the STF. He said that the magistrate’s actions will serve as a guide for the conduct of the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) for the next two years.

“If I have good experience to serve as a guide in the Attorney General’s Office, I received that experience from here, from the Electoral Court, especially from your excellency, minister-president [Alexandre de Moraes]”, stated Gonet in a session of the electoral court.

“The example of an intimidating stance with respect for democratic values, the values ​​of the legal order, unparalleled civic courage and absolute respect for the legal order and always with eyes focused on the good of republican values.”

Gonet also said that Moraes “serves as a guide for his performance” in the PGR. According to him, “happy” is the Attorney General of the Republic who can have a role model like the president of the TSE.