‘Lula is losing charisma’, says Fábio Konder Comparato – 03/30/2024 – Politics

Lawyer Fábio Konder Comparato, professor emeritus at the USP Faculty of Law and one of the country’s leading jurists, states that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva no longer has the charisma he once had and that the PT should now start preparing minister Fernando Haddad ( Treasury) to succeed him as President.

A reference on the left, especially in the area of ​​human rights, after an early career also focused on commercial law, Comparato worked in the defense of political prisoners and for reparations for those persecuted by the dictatorship.

He was at the forefront of symbolic causes of the dead and missing family members, such as those of the Almeida Teles family and Luiz Eduardo Merlino against Colonel Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra and Inês Etienne Romeu against the Federal Union. He also signed the OAB action in the Federal Supreme Court arguing that the Amnesty Law could not prevent the punishment of crimes against humanity perpetrated during the dictatorship.

“We live in a situation in which it is extremely important that there is a charismatic figure in the government. And, unfortunately, Lula is losing his charisma. And I think that perhaps it would be the case to start acting to make Fernando Haddad a kind good successor to Lula”, Comparato told Sheet.

“Now, I don’t know how this can be done, because in the past there were political parties, today there are no more parties, there are personalities. And the personalities that count in politics are decreasing, we can count them on the fingers of one hand.”

According to the jurist, the current parties no longer have the strength to move society forward. “We need to create a group of politicians, intellectuals and people with the capacity and experience to reformulate the activities of what we once called the left, which presupposes opposition to what seems to be the only current political reality, not only in Brazil, but throughout the world. , which is the right.”

Comparato made the statements in the context of Lula’s position in relation to the dictatorship’s liabilities. He said he disagrees with the president’s recent statement that the dictatorship “is part of history” (“I’m not going to dwell on it and I’m going to try to move this country forward”, said Lula) and the PT member’s determination that government bodies should not remember the 60th anniversary of the coup, this March 31st.

“I think we cannot forget this horror. And, above all, we need to take into account the fact that all Brazilian youth born after the coup did not experience any of that. Whatever our position regarding the Lula government, we must not forget the horror of the 64 coup. We must, first of all, not lose this horror in our collective memory.”

Still, Comparato noted, it is necessary for Lula to have a dialogue with the military and, in this sense, the lawyer argues that the president follows “the advice of Minister José Múcio [Defesa]”.

“Obviously, he is more linked to the military than the president, but, above all, he seems aware that we are living through a difficult time. And my impression is that Lula is not aware of this. There needs to be an interregnum , a serious conversation between the government and the military group.”

Comparato considers that the developments regarding the coup attempts by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his allies and the attacks on January 8 “must continue as Minister Alexandre de Moraes determined. In other words, we cannot forget this issue. It is necessary to at least initiate criminal proceedings.”

At 87 years old, Comparato no longer practices law, and says he has not left home for health reasons. But he continues, despite the limitations, to take part in the public debate. When talking to the reporter by phone on the 20th, he had just participated in a video meeting of the Arns Commission, of which he is one of the illustrious members — as he says he does weekly.

“I am subject to that plague called old age. In any case, I hope that other younger people have the conviction that one can never forget the horrors of dictatorial governments that lasted at least two decades in Brazil.”