Moraes expands influence on the TSE with ministers taking office – 05/30/2023 – Power

The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) swore in, this Tuesday (30), lawyer Floriano de Azevedo Marques and deputy minister André Ramos Tavares as new members of the court, expanding their influence in the body responsible for organizing Brazilian elections.

The ceremony was conducted by the president of the court, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who said that the new members will “join the court of democracy”. The minister added that the country is the fourth largest democracy in the world, with 156,454,011 eligible voters who participated in the 2022 elections.

“Your Excellencies, now, are joining the other members of the TSE that have the only mission: the defense of democracy and guarantee that the voter can, every two years, freely choose their representatives”, he said.

The two were selected by President Lula (PT) after being part of a list drawn up by the STF (Federal Supreme Court) with four names — among them, two women, passed over by the PT.

The President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino (PSB), also participated in the ceremony.

Floriano is a doctor and lecturer in law at USP, where he also teaches Moraes, who had been defending his colleague’s admission to the collegiate. Tavares had already worked at the TSE as a deputy minister since November last year.

Moraes said that the organization welcomes the two with joy and highlighted the “wide experience not only in academic life, but also in professional life” of both.

“Professor Floriano, who graduated from the USP Faculty of Law, is a classmate of mine and Minister Dias Toffoli, from the 1990 class. He was director of the Faculty of Law at Largo São Francisco. André Ramos Tavares is also a professor at the Faculty of Law at USP, a professor with extensive experience”, he said.

They will occupy the vacancies left by ministers Sérgio Banhos and Carlos Horbach in the court. They were opened by the so-called “jurist class”, filled by lawyers. The titular composition of the TSE is filled by three ministers from the STF, two from the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) and two lawyers.

Traditionally, the longest-serving deputy justice serving on the court is chosen as the successor to the vacancy opened by a titular magistrate who leaves the court.

In this case, it would be natural for minister Maria Cláudia Bucchianeri to ascend to the title. She ended up not making the quadruple list. Bucchianeri was chosen as a substitute minister for the TSE in 2021 by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Behind the scenes, Moraes was working to expand his influence on the court, which he will preside over until the middle of next year. His plan is, even after leaving the court, to maintain allies and, consequently, his influence in electoral debates.

The TSE is close to important judgments about Bolsonaro, which could lead the former president to ineligibility, and the change in the composition of the court could be favorable to the intentions of the Lula government.

The former president is the target of 16 actions in the Electoral Justice. The most advanced process that could make him ineligible for eight years was moved by the PDT by a meeting with ambassadors, in July 2022.

On the occasion, Bolsonaro invited dozens of foreign representatives to speak about the country’s electronic voting system. The event lasted about 50 minutes and was broadcast on TV Brasil.

After Lula’s choice, the Manesco, Ramires, Perez, Azevedo Marques office, of which Floriano is a founding partner, released a note stating that he “gathers all the attributes to exercise with competence and brilliance” the position.