Marcel van Hattem talks about the next steps for the CPI on Abuse of Authority

Federal deputy Marcel van Hattem (Novo-RS) spoke exclusively to the People’s Gazette on the next steps for the installation of the CPI on Abuse of Authority in the Chamber of Deputies. The request was filed this Wednesday (29), after reaching the necessary 171 signatures.

According to the parliamentarian from Rio Grande do Sul, the request now needs to be read by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), in an ordinary session in the plenary, before the CPI can then be installed.

“We are going to hold President Arthur Lira accountable, as we want to begin work on the necessary investigations into abuses of authority committed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), through their ministers”, says the deputy.

Van Hattem recalled that the CPI’s request had already been filed last year, on November 24, but ended up being archived due to the end of the legislature. “A little over a year later we managed to reproduce this request. And at this moment, we only succeeded because, regrettably, we had the very tragic death last week of Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, Clezão, in Papuda, resulting from a lack of necessary attention due to his case of comorbidities and also a lack of respect for due legal process , something that is also within the scope of the CPI investigation”, he highlights.

The deputy also highlighted that the CPI will not monitor the merits of the ministers’ decisions, because “it would be interference with another power”.

“We are talking about abuses of authority that occurred during the processing of cases against people who do not have a privileged jurisdiction, for example, and, therefore, can never be judged by the STF, not to mention those who had assets blocked in an arbitrary manner”, it says.

Censorship imposed by the STF and TSE will be investigated

The censorship imposed on press vehicles, such as People’s Gazette in October last year, are also within the scope of the CPI investigations, as the deputy pointed out.

“Gazeta do Povo itself was censored during the electoral period, contrary to what the Federal Constitution says, and other media outlets and parliamentarians also had their voices silenced. This is a moment for us to demonstrate that Congress is proud, and in particular the Chamber of Deputies, reacting to these abuses that have been happening for some time”, explains van Hattem.

The parliamentarian also cited a “TSE resolution” from last year that was quite “damaging to democracy”. “There were many requests for censorship last year, through judicial decisions that did not follow what the Constitution says. TSE resolution 23,714, which is an apocryphal and extemporaneous resolution, could not even have been adopted during the electoral process”, he highlights.

“TSE resolutions could only impact the election if taken half a year before the start of the election. Otherwise you start playing a game, and the electoral court changes the rules in the middle of the game, and that doesn’t make any sense”, concluded the deputy.