Lula: Happy for Zanin and for the behavior of the Senate – 06/22/2023 – Politics

President Lula (PT) celebrated this Thursday (22) the approval of Cristiano Zanin for a seat on the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

“I was happy for Zanin and for the behavior of the Senate”, he said at the end of the day in Paris, after having dinner with more than one hundred heads of state gathered for the Summit of the New Financing Pact.

“The winner was Brazil and the Supreme Court, which will have someone of great quality to defend compliance with the Federal Constitution”, added Lula.

Zanin went through a sabbatical and was approved in plenary by the Senate this Wednesday (21), by 58 votes to 18.

While the lawyer was questioned by the senators, the president, on a trip to Europe, sought information. In a telephone call to the leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), Lula heard the reassuring assessment: “Zero problem”.

First nominated by Lula in the current term for the court, Zanin is a friend of the president, for whom he advocated in the actions of Operation Lava Jato, and needed the vote of at least 41 senators (out of a total of 81 members of the House) to be chancellor.

Lula’s choice was the subject of questions that it could represent a violation of the principle of impersonality.

Zanin managed to gain the sympathy of current STF ministers and a large number of politicians, including those linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), after becoming famous for questioning Lava Jato.

The lawyer will occupy the vacancy of Ricardo Lewandowski, who retired in April, and may remain on the Supreme Court until November 2050, when he turns 75, the age limit for court ministers.

He is due to take office on August 3. This Thursday, the day after approval by the Senate, he met with the President of the STF, Minister Rosa Weber.

The meeting lasted about 40 minutes. “After the meeting, they met with the other ministers of the court before resuming the session. Zanin also spoke with the court’s administrative leadership to obtain details on how his office will work,” informed the Supreme Court.

Lula’s statement this Thursday comes amid clashes with Congress and complaints about the government’s political articulation.

According to the president, the relationship with Congress is good and disagreements are natural. “The most natural thing is that Congress does not accept everything the president proposes, we are not a country of one mind,” he said upon arrival at the hotel.

Lula also stated that analyzes of the government’s disagreements with Congress are hasty. “There are days when we start the day hearing that the government is over, at the end of the day the government won, so there is no explanation for that.”

Still without a minimal support base in the Chamber, although with a better scenario in the Senate, Lula has dedicated efforts to trying to solve problems in political articulation and to attract center and right-wing parties that are currently independent or more inclined to the opposition.

The president also said that he should comment this Friday (23) on what arguments he will take to Emmanuel Macron to convince France to support the European Union’s trade agreement with Mercosur. After the end of the summit, Lula will have lunch with the French president.