Lula delays indications and puts organs at risk of lethargy – 10/29/2023 – Power

Under pressure to immediately nominate names for the head of the Attorney General’s Office and for the open position in the STF (Supreme Federal Court), President Lula (PT) also needs to make a series of nominations or appointments ranging from lower court to federal agencies.

All this at risk of paralysis or lethargy of part of these organs.

The Cade Administration Court (Administrative Council for Economic Defense), for example, which is a federal agency, is at risk of becoming inoperative due to a lack of the minimum number of advisors for its sessions to take place.

There are three vacant positions today, and the fourth will be open from November 4th, when Luis Henrique Bertolino Braido’s term ends.

For the sessions to take place, according to the law, there must be at least four counselors present. Cade has six advisors. In addition to them, the president of the council participates in the sessions.

The government will need to appoint new names because the composition of the court will lose the minimum quorum of advisors, as it will have less than half the number of members.

The expectation in legal circles is that the appointments will take place this week.

One of the names mentioned is José Levi, secretary general of the Presidency of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and former attorney general of the Union under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration. The name has the support of senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP).

Levi is a trusted person of the president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, and left the Bolsonaro government under friction with the then president.

In addition to Cade, the government has positions in 10 local authorities to fill and still has to give approval to two names of judges from the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region), based in Brasília.

These choices should be added, in the coming months, to the vacancies that are open at the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), the TST (Superior Labor Court) and other TRFs.

In these cases, the lists with the names of possible candidates have not yet been drawn up or have not reached the president.

In local authorities and higher courts, nominees must be vetted and approved by the Senate before being appointed. In regional courts, the president already decides on the appointment.

The government comes from a recent defeat with the senators’ rejection of Igor Roque’s name for the Federal Public Defender’s Office. Igor was selected from a list sent to choose the president. It is not yet known what the process of appointing the new head of the organization will be like.

Government members and parliamentarians say that the delay in filling certain positions is due to the lack of a guideline on how negotiations for these positions will take place.

Parliamentarians have sought to influence these indications, and Lula has not yet defined how some articulations will be made. In other words: who does he intend to honor, whether nominees from allies and members of the government itself or whether he will give priority to Congress.

The delay causes concern among allies, who fear the inaction of bodies or believe that the president leaves listed names excessively exposed.

The president’s allies admit that in his third term Lula has adopted a more centralizing style, which has delayed certain decisions. It took Lula two months, for example, to complete the mini-ministerial reform that included PP and Republican deputies in the government.

At the Supreme Court, the vacancy for Minister Rosa Weber’s replacement has been open for a month, as well as for Augusto Aras’ successor at the PGR. The agency’s acting attorney general is Elizeta Ramos.

In the case of TRF-1, one of the names waiting for Lula to be chosen is based on seniority — that is, he simply needs to give approval to the court’s nomination. In the other, he will have to nominate from a merit list.

In the case of agencies, there are lists that have already reached the president’s attention and others that are being drawn up. But presidential advisors hope to make the nominations more fluid. Lula also only concluded this week the change in the presidency of Caixa Econômica Federal, something that has been discussed since June.

On Friday (27), the president was questioned at a breakfast with journalists about the topic and said he would make the nominations “soon”.

“I will nominate. Soon, you will know that I will nominate. I will nominate the attorney general, I will nominate the minister [do Supremo], I’m going to nominate Cade, I’m going to nominate more people. And very calmly,” she said.

At Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), there is an open board position after Alex Machado resigned to take up a position in the government of Raquel Lira (PSDB) in Pernambuco.

Senators linked to Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), president of the House, support the name of Gisele Silva Pereira, deputy in the body, to be hired. Lula still needs to hit the hammer.

The agency also has a vacant ombudsman. While the government does not name a name, the agency’s employees take turns in the role.

At ANM (National Mining Agency), there is a vacant board and an ombudsman that can be filled by the government.

The ombudsman’s office remained open after the government withdrew the nomination of a name that had previously been appointed by Bolsonaro. The directorship is now occupied by Caio Mario Trivellato Seabra Filho, who is a substitute director at the agency, and can be hired as he has support from the government. In addition, Planalto received nominations from parliamentarians from MDB and Podemos for the body.

At Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), the term of advisor Moises Queiroz Viana ends at the beginning of November. Deputies nominated Maxwell Borges de Moura Vieira, former president of Eace, the entity created to manage mandatory investments in the 5G auction, for the position.

In June, the government also nominated the name of Marina Copola to the CVM (Securities Commission), who would replace Alexandre Costa Rangel, who resigned that month, but is still awaiting the Senate hearing.

For ANSN (National Nuclear Security Authority), there are three open directorships, including the presidency. Alessandro Fakhoury’s name was nominated for the presidency and is still under analysis by Planalto.