Rule change under Dilma allowed promotion of current AGU – 02/05/2023 – Power

The AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union) changed the interpretation of an internal rule in 2014, during the Dilma Rousseff (PT) government, which made it possible at the time for the promotion of Jorge Messias, now holder of the portfolio.

That year, Messias was Secretary of Regulation and Supervision of Higher Education at the Ministry of Education and filed an administrative appeal, which was eventually accepted by the AGU.

In the internal judgment, the understanding of the norm that defines which civil servants deserve to be promoted to the top of the AGU career was changed. This resulted in the ascension of Messias to the special category and guaranteed him a salary increase.

The change was approved by 4 to 3. Of the four votes in favor of Messias, one was by Fernando Albuquerque Faria, then deputy attorney general of the Union, and another by André Dantas, at the time deputy general counsel of the Union and currently incumbent. of the General Consultancy, by indication of Messias.

A 2008 resolution determined that employees who did not play a role in the body itself could not earn 25 points in the dispute for internal promotion by merit.

“The members who, during the full period of the evaluation, are not in exercise in a body of the Attorney General’s Office will not be entitled to the points in the caput”, provided for the norm.

Without the punctuation, Messias was not among the public lawyers who would be promoted. He, however, appealed to the Superior Council of the AGU, which accepted his arguments. The collegiate determined that the fact that he held, at the time, a high-ranking position in the government guaranteed the 25 points he was seeking.

With that, the dispute for the promotion had a new result and Messias guaranteed the rise to the top of the body’s career.

Most followed the opinion of the General Consultancy of the Union, which stated that the nature of the position held by Messias was enough to recognize the merit of the score.

Of the three votes against the promotion, one was from Omar Sobrinho, representative of the National Treasury attorney’s career, the same as Messias.

“The suggested interpretation nullifies the device itself in its reason for being, which is to honor those who develop their activities in an AGU body. This suggested interpretation revokes the law, as it annuls the regulation itself. assigned to occupy commissioned positions up to a certain degree and privileges those who occupy commissioned positions from a certain degree of importance”, he said at the time.

Currently, Union lawyers who are in the special category have a salary of BRL 27.3 thousand, while the lower category receives BRL 24.1 thousand.

Through the advisory, Messias stated that the withdrawal of the 25 points had harmed him and said that the favorable opinion of his promotion “was based on the finding that the administrative rule applied by the Promotion Commission, in addition to being unreasonable, implied damage to the AGU “.

He says that the collegiate was “convinced that the rule was wrong”. “It is noteworthy that, after this decision, there was, at the time, a change in Resolution 11/2008 in the terms proposed in the reasons for the appeal filed by attorney Jorge Messias, and, as mentioned, confirmed by the Superior Council of the AGU”.

In addition, he states that he “sought, through the appropriate (administrative) route, to repair a right whose concrete effects were projected beyond his individual sphere, correcting an administrative orientation that was harmful to the careers of the AGU”.

Even before the victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in last year’s elections, Messias was already considered a favorite to be appointed to the head of the Attorney General’s Office.

He won the PT’s trust for having held one of the main positions in the Dilma government, that of Deputy Head of Legal Affairs at the Civil House, before joining the MEC. The function is responsible for analyzing the constitutionality and legality of the acts that are taken for signature by the Chief Executive.

In recent years, Messias has also been an advisor to Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), one of the most influential politicians within the PT.

Apart from his relationship with the party, Messias was the most voted on the six-fold list formed by the National Forum of Federal Public Advocacy (Forvm) which was forwarded to Lula with suggestions of names to lead the body.

The AGU, which represents the Union in court, has become central in recent governments, with presidents often resorting to the Union’s Advocate General to resolve obstacles in their management at the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

The minister’s inauguration as head of the AGU was prestigious and included speeches by Dilma and Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Supreme Court. The former president said that Messias “helped her get it right”, she also called him a friend and stated that there was “mutual respect” between the two.

Every president tends to choose the head of the AGU very carefully. Proof of this is that at least three ministers managed to make their position a springboard to higher flights.

The first was Gilmar Mendes, who was Advocate General of the Union of then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and, later, was appointed to a seat on the STF.

Then it was Dias Toffoli’s turn, who was Lula’s AGU chief in 2009, when the PT candidate chose him for a seat on the Supreme Court.

André Mendonça, who commanded the body under the management of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), also left his direct post to take a seat at the top of the Judiciary.