TSE revokes deputy and makes way for Paulinho da Força – 11/07/2023 – Power

The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) decided this Tuesday (7) to revoke the mandate of deputy Marcelo de Lima Fernandes (PSB-SP), which paves the way for the return of Paulo Pereira da Silva, known as Paulinho da Força, to the Federal Chamber.

The TSE understood, by 5 votes to 2, that Fernandes left the Solidariedade party without having just cause. Paulinho is one of the main chiefs of the acronym.

Ministers Ramos Tavares (rapporteur), Cármen Lúcia, Floriano Azevedo, Benedito Gonçalves and the president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, voted for the impeachment. Ministers Kassio Nunes Marques and Raul Araújo were defeated.

The Chamber of Deputies has not yet been officially notified of the Electoral Court’s decision. It is up to the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo to confirm the alternate who will take over the vacancy. Paulinho is the first on the list of substitutes elected by Solidariedade.

Solidariedade questioned Fernandes’ mandate. The party claimed that the now impeached deputy only met the requirements of the barrier clause because of the incorporation of Pros by Solidariedade, in February this year. He further argued that Fernandes was elected using Solidariedade’s political-financial structure.

From the moment the joining of the two parties resulted in compliance with the barrier clause, the legislation no longer allows disaffiliation without the loss of the deputy.

Fernandes had claimed that he left Solidariedade precisely because the party, alone, had not reached the clause.

The deputy announced his disaffiliation on the same day as the incorporation of Pros, February 14th. But, according to the case’s rapporteur at the TSE, communication to the electoral court only occurred the following day, when the incorporation had already taken place.

Solidariedade has four deputies in the Chamber. A Sheet Paulinho da Força said that the TSE “did justice”. “For us it was an important decision because we had lost a deputy in the Chamber.”