Lula prepares “combo” of nominations for the Judiciary by the end of 2023

After appointing his personal lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, for the position of Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is preparing a combo of nominations for the Judiciary in the second half of the year. The expectation is that the next nomination will take place in two months – for the vacancy that will open with the retirement of the current president of the STF, Minister Rosa Weber.

For this vacancy, several names are already quoted, such as the current Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino; the president of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), Bruno Dantas; and the Minister of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) Luís Felipe Salomão. However, Lula has been pressured to appoint a woman, given that the current composition of the Court has only two ministers. In addition to Rosa Weber, the STF also has Justice Cármen Lúcia.

Lula has already signaled to his interlocutors that nominating a man for Rosa Weber’s vacancy could have negative repercussions among his electorate. On the list of listed companies are, among others, the minister of the STJ Regina Helena Costa, the judge of the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region Simone Schreiber, and the lawyers Dora Cavalcanti and Flávia Rahal.

In addition, women from the Academic Center 11 de Agosto, from the Faculty of Law of USP, also released an open letter defending, without naming names, that the vacancy be occupied by a black woman. Lawyer Vera Lúcia Santana de Araújo, a member of the Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD), is also remembered for the STF.

The petista has already made it clear that he intends to indicate to the STF someone who could “be reached by a phone call”. Today, he does not have that closeness with any member of the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the legal profession. According to PT allies, the idea is to create this link in the coming months.

Lula sews an agreement with the Judiciary for Aras’ vacancy in the PGR

At the same time, Lula has sought to use his influence with the Judiciary to define the replacement of Augusto Aras in charge of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR). For the choice, Lula has heard ministers of the STF, such as Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes, and even leaders of the Centrão.

PT members, such as the leader of the government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (BA), came to defend Lula’s reappointment of Aras, but other wings of the Planalto resist the current prosecutor appointed by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). For this group, Aras is a name that molds itself according to the interlocutor, and this is seen in Planalto as a sign of distrust for Lula’s allies.

According to the PT, the choice of the next head of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) will be “at the right moment and at the right time”. The president also stated that he “lost a lot of confidence” in the institution, after the performance of former Federal Prosecutor and former federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol in Operation Lava Jato.

“Obviously I’m going to choose with more criteria and with a finer comb so as not to make a mistake. I don’t want to choose someone who is Lula’s friend. I want to choose someone who is a friend of this country, someone who likes Brazil, someone who doesn’t make false accusations, who doesn’t raise false claims about others. Whoever denounces a false accusation, and then does not prove it, should pay the costs of the process, because that way we manage to make people more honest and decent in their decisions”, said Lula.

There is also a triple list, prepared by the National Association of Public Prosecutors (ANPR). With Lula’s indication that he will not follow the list, only three names signed up: Mario Bonsaglia, Luiza Frischeisen and José Adonis Callou.

Luiza Frischeisen was the most voted on the last list, drawn up in 2021. She was the first woman to lead the list. In turn, Bonsaglia was second. Adonis Callou’s name is unheard of in the dispute. He was coordinator of the Operation Lava Jato working group at the PGR and asked to leave office in 2020 after disagreements with Augusto Aras.

Lula will nominate three names for the STJ, one for the TSE and another for the TST

Later this year, Lula will also indicate three names for the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). In addition, the PT will have a new nomination for the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and another for the Superior Labor Court (TST). The president has been advised to make these appointments all at once.

The internal assessment is that the “combo” can minimize any wear and tear and disputes for vacancies. In addition, Lula would also have been instructed to pay more attention to the nominations for the STJ, in view of the setbacks that the petista has already had in the Court during his Lava Jato processes.

Lula, however, will have to follow the list of those elected by the STJ itself. The Court will meet in August to define the names that will be submitted to the President of the Republic. Of the current 30 ministers of the STJ, 24 were appointed by Lula or by former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) during their respective terms.