Lula does not rule out Zanin in the STF and rejects the list for PGR – 03/02/2023 – Politics

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Thursday (2) that “everyone would understand” if he nominated his lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, for a vacancy on the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

Zanin defended the representative in the Lava Jato Operation processes, which led to his arrest and were later annulled by the Supreme Court.

“Today, if I nominated Zanin, everyone would understand that he deserved to be nominated. Technically he has grown in an extraordinary way, he is my friend, he is my companion, as others are my companions, but I never nominated him because of that”, he said in an interview with journalist Reinaldo Azevedo at BandNews.

The president also stated that he does not intend to repeat the performance in his first two terms, when he appointed to head the PGR (Attorney General of the Republic) the prosecutors who won the internal election of the category.

“I don’t think about triple list anymore, I don’t think anymore. This is not the criterion I used to think about, because when I came to the Presidency I brought my experience from the union, so everything for me was triple list. It’s already been proven that not always the triple list solves the problem. So, I will be more judicious in choosing the next Attorney General of the Republic”, he said.

This year, ministers Ricardo Lewandowski and Rosa Weber will turn 75, the age limit for serving on the STF, and it will be up to Lula to choose the two successors. The Chief Executive also said that there is the possibility of indicating a third name, in case someone anticipates retirement.

Lula said he would choose a jurist who, according to him, “has character” and “notorious legal knowledge”. “I don’t want to pick a judge for myself, it’s for the nation,” he said.

The chief executive said he believed that some of the ministers appointed by the PT who voted in favor of his arrest in 2018 did so because of pressure from the press.

“If I had to choose the people I already chose, with the information I had at the time, I would choose them again,” he said.

He also said that he has no resentment against the ministers who cast votes that landed him in prison. “I don’t want to judge anyone. After the Brazilian people forgave me and elected me president, I’m trying to put everything that happened to me in perspective,” he said.

Lula stated that he will talk to allies before choosing the next members of the court. “Obviously there is always a group of people you consult, consult lawyers, people from other states, consult a lot of people”, she said.