Most readers consider Lewandowski’s appointment to the STF to be unethical

Result of poll with readers of People’s Gazette, which was on air between January 11th and 18th, points out that 94% do not consider ethics the appointment of Ricardo Lewandowski, former minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to head the Ministry of Justice. In total, 1,242 readers responded to the survey, and only 6% agreed with the recommendation.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) appointed Lewandowski on January 11 to fill the position of Flávio Dino, who will assume a seat on the STF. A trusted name for the PT member, Lewandowski left the court in April last year with wide prestige among his colleagues. At the time, he was already considered a strong name to join the first level of the Executive or an embassy abroad.

The new Minister of Justice is among the STF magistrates who voted to suspect the former Lava Jato judge, Sergio Moro, in the Guarujá (SP) triplex case. As a result, in June 2021, by 7 votes to 4, the STF annulled the charges against Lula relating to the case.

With Lewandowski in charge of the Ministry of Justice – which houses the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation (DRCI), the National Secretariat for Penal Policies (formerly Depen, which takes care of penitentiary issues) – Lula hopes to have an ally who will not bring him bad surprises, whether by preventing a new Lava Jato from being born, or by trying to prevent a possible explosion of crime in the country from affecting the government’s image and its popularity.

Recently, the former STF minister also demonstrated closeness to Movimento Sem-Terra (MST), which is historically linked to the PT and Lula. At an event promoted by the MST, at the beginning of December last year, Lewandowski criticized “bourgeois liberal democracy” and called the Movement an “example”.

Lewandowski’s appointment was praised by STF ministers and allies of the PT government. On the other hand, the opposition did not hold back on criticizing the “political partnership” between the government and the STF.