Zanin’s favoritism rises with support from the STF and Congress – 05/10/2023 – Power

Cristiano Zanin’s favoritism for Ricardo Lewandowski’s vacancy in the STF (Federal Supreme Court) consolidated support from court ministers to the lawyer, in addition to the favorable signaling of Arthur Lira (PP-AL), president of the Chamber, and Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD -MG), President of the Senate (House that analyzes the presidential nomination).

Responsible for criminally defending President Lula (PT) in Operation Lava Jato processes, Zanin became a friend of the Chief Executive and is considered the strongest candidate to be nominated for the Supreme Court.

The support of members of the Supreme Court is always important in the articulations of a President of the Republic in search of a name for the court, due to the importance of a good relationship between the Executive and the Judiciary.

Initially, there was resistance to the choice of lawyer due to his proximity to the president and the wear and tear that the nomination could cause the court, since Zanin criminally defends the PT candidate.

The choice would involve greater proximity, for example, in relation to the indication of the Advocate General of the Union —which has happened several times in the past.

However, after behind-the-scenes information that Lula is unlikely to back down from the choice, ministers came out in defense of the lawyer, including magistrates who voted in favor of Lava Jato and against Lula in trials. Interlocutors of the representative, however, claim that the Chief Executive is in no hurry to make the appointment.

Minister Cármen Lúcia was one of the first to support an eventual choice by the quoted candidate. “As a judge, respect, as long as the Constitution is complied with. The president has the right to choose and fulfill his attribution as a competent authority,” she declared in an interview before Lewandowski retired.

Luís Roberto Barroso also said he saw no obstacles to appointing the lawyer.

“I don’t see any ethical or moral conflict, or violation of impersonality. He is a lawyer who performed the job when everything seemed lost, when everything was going uphill. He has professional virtues. I think there would be no ethical implications”, he stated.

“It is not unreasonable to choose someone with whom you have some kind of personal affinity, as long as that person meets the minimum requirements of technical qualification and suitability.”

Minister Gilmar Mendes followed the same line: “I don’t see any obstacles to nominating Zanin, who I consider to be a great lawyer and [que] has often been misunderstood”.

The president of the court, Rosa Weber, and minister Dias Toffoli, in turn, made important moves to avoid embarrassment to the quoted, in case he is confirmed in court.

The magistrate used a STF rule to decide an action that ended in a tie, thus avoiding a possible fair fight for the lawyer.

The two lawsuits on the possibility of foreigners buying land in Brazil ended in a 5-5 tie. In situations like this, it is common for the court to wait for the new minister to take office to break the tie.

Zanin, however, could have to declare himself prevented, since the decision would have an impact on a billionaire dispute between the Indonesian Paper Excellence and J&F, the company for which he advocates.

Rosa, who voted against the injunction under analysis, appealed to article 146 of the internal regulations, which allows the issue to be decided in the opposite way to the intended one when there is a tie due to the lack of a minister.

Toffoli, in turn, asked to leave the First Panel of the STF in order to migrate to the Second, which had Lewandowski as a starter. With that, Zanin will not remain on the collegiate that judges Lava Jato cases and, thus, the lawyer would not need to declare himself a suspect in cases of the operation that he has always criticized.

Support is not restricted to the Supreme Court. Arthur Lira, for example, has already signaled positively to the lawyer’s appointment. “About Zanin, I never heard resistance,” he said in an interview with the newspaper O Globo.

Rodrigo Pacheco did the same: “He is my professional colleague, my background is criminal law. I have deep respect and admiration. He has all the prerogatives to be a minister of the STF”, he said.

The president still hasn’t hit the hammer on the choice. However, he has already hinted that he is sympathetic to the idea of ​​appointing his lawyer to the court.

“Today, if I nominated Zanin, everyone would understand that he deserved to be nominated. Technically he has grown in an extraordinary way, he is my friend, he is my partner, like others are my teammates, but I never nominated him because of that”, he said recently in an interview. to BandNews.

In the second semester, in November, Lula will be able to make one more nomination for the STF, when the current president, Rosa Weber, will complete 75 years and must retire compulsorily.

In this case, there is a movement for the president to replace the magistrate with another woman, avoiding the decrease in female participation in the court, with eight men currently.

As the two vacancies open in the same year, there is a group of senators defending that Lula wait to make the two nominations at the same time.

The assessment is that the choices together would help dilute the criticism of Zanin’s choice. In addition, it would facilitate the approval of names in the Senate, as the two nominations could be processed at the same time, and the government would not need to mobilize at two different times to approve the chosen ones.

However, it is likely that Lula will not wait for the next semester.