President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).| Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Thursday (2nd) that Cristiano Zanin Martins, the lawyer in charge of his defense, has the merit to be nominated for a vacancy as Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The president will be able to choose at least two ministers of the Court this year.

“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, my companion, as others are my companions, but I nominated him because of that”, said Lula in an interview with BandNews FM. “I have never asked any favor of any minister. They were not appointed to do me a favor or protect me,” said the representative.

Lula also stated that, in case any STF minister decides to anticipate his retirement, he will be able to appoint up to three ministers. “The criteria will be the same. First: notorious legal knowledge, because I don’t want to choose a judge for myself, it’s for the nation. The guy has to be abiding by our Constitution,” he said.

Lula ruled out using the triple list to choose the new Attorney General of the Republic. The president stated that “the criterion will be personal” in the choice. The triple list is prepared by the National Association of Public Prosecutors (ANPR). “The criteria will be personal, a lot of meditation, I’ll talk to a lot of people”, he said.

“I am no longer thinking of a triple list of the PGR… I will be more judicious”, he reinforced. The president said that he hopes to choose a “decent, dignified, high character attorney who is respected for the good services rendered to the country”.