Articulated by a Motta under pressure, Zambelli’s resignation reduces internal shocks and frictions with the STF

• Zambelli timeline: from Araraquara hacker to resignation from office

The Speaker of the House’s interlocutors had already stressed that there would be no other possible solution than to comply with the order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, approved on Friday by the first college of the STF. An order to this effect would, however, provoke a reaction from the opposition, which has announced its intention to obstruct the votes in plenary. Motta, always in agreement with his allies, then spoke with Zambelli’s family, lawyers and PL leaders. The same group claims there was no prior contact with the STF regarding this decision. In the afternoon, in a note, he announced that Zambelli had abdicated his post.

“The Chamber of Deputies informs that the deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) communicated today (yesterday) to the General Secretariat of the Council her resignation from her parliamentary mandate. Consequently, the president of the Chamber of Deputies ordered the summoning of the substitute, the deputy Adilson Barroso (PL-SP), to take office”, indicates the press release published by Motta.

Barroso until recently occupied the seat in the Chamber occupied by former São Paulo Security Secretary Guilherme Derrite (PP), who returned to office after leaving state office. He was one of the founders of the National Ecological Party (PEN), which changed its name to Patriota in 2017, when the possibility of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) joining the party was considered. On social media, Zambelli’s replacement describes himself as a “right-wing, conservative and patriotic Bolsonaro supporter,” as well as a friend of “Jair Bolsonaro, Michele Bolsonaro and Nikolas Ferreira.”

In the letter announcing the decision, Zambelli said it had been overturned by the Supreme Court, although the House acknowledged there was no evidence to adopt such a measure. “It is in light of this situation, and not out of fear, weakness or withdrawal, that I publicly and solemnly announce my resignation from the parliamentary mandate, so that it can be noted that a mandate legitimized by almost a million votes has been interrupted despite the formal recognition, by this Assembly, of the lack of evidence for its revocation,” Zambelli wrote.

Its defenders and political allies added that it was also a measure of a legal nature. She is imprisoned in Italy and the Brazilian government is negotiating her extradition to Brazil. The assessment is that the act can serve as a gesture to try to continue in the European country.

— It was a strategic resignation to help defend it in Italy. Zambelli was required to resign before Motta approved the impeachment, with the House acquitting him. Moraes thinks he is in charge, but we have our strategies – declared the leader of the PL in the House, Sóstenes Cavalcante.

The lawyer for the now former MP also declared that the resignation “contributes to reducing institutional tensions between the powers, avoiding the aggravation of a conflict of a constitutional nature”.

The imbroglio worsened Wednesday, when there were not enough votes in the House to revoke Zambelli’s mandate. Motta had brought the decision to the plenary, with the aim of gaining support and preventing the action from being taken on the basis of an act of the board of directors. But the plan didn’t work. The quorum being low for a vote of this type, there were 227 votes for impeachment and 110 against. The minimum threshold to impeach her was 50 supporters short of being met, even with calls at night and early in the morning for lawmakers to participate.

The STF’s response came the next day. Moraes said in a new order that the House’s deliberations took place “in blatant violation” of the Constitution. “This is a void act, due to obvious unconstitutionality, demonstrating both a lack of respect for the principles of legality, morality and impersonality, as well as a flagrant deviation from the desired goal,” argued the Minister of the Supreme Court.

The judge concluded by affirming that the Constitution gives the judiciary the power to rule on the resignation of a parliamentarian convicted of a criminal offense which has become final and without appeal. In these cases, Moraes emphasized, it is up to the Chamber Council to simply declare the loss of the mandate, through an administrative act.

The minister added that the Chamber challenged a series of STF decisions on the subject, emphasizing that the Court, since the Mensalão trial in 2012, has consolidated the understanding that parliamentarians found guilty of criminal offenses with a final judgment automatically lose their position. The order provided a 48-hour deadline for Zambelli’s replacement to be sworn in.

As O GLOBO showed, STF ministers declared that maintaining the mandate was “unacceptable”. In a unanimous decision Friday, the first committee approved the court order. The committee includes, in addition to Moraes, the ministers Flávio Dino, Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin.

Zambelli was sentenced in May this year by the STF to ten years in prison for intrusion into the systems of the National Council of Justice (CNJ). The Ministers of the First Panel understood that she and the hacker Walter Delgatti had committed the crimes of hacking a computer device and ideological lying.

For constitutional law professor Gustavo Sampaio, of the Federal University of Fluminense (UFF), the STF should consider Zambelli’s resignation as ineffective in preserving political rights, and the deputy will remain ineligible for eight years:

— Given that the deputy resigns after a court decision establishing that within 48 hours the Board of Directors of the Chamber must decide on the loss of her mandate, the STF considers Zambelli’s resignation as ineffective. With the loss of her position and the final criminal conviction, the MP’s political rights are suspended and she can no longer run for office.

From the government’s point of view, the easing could be useful in a week considered decisive for the vote on the budget and the project to reduce tax benefits, a priority for the team of Finance Minister Fernando Haddad. Motta called a leadership meeting today to discuss the matter.

— I consider this matter concerning Carla Zambelli to be over. Hugo (Motta) called a meeting of leaders to discuss tax benefits, which interests us a lot — said PT House leader Lindbergh Farias (RJ).