More than half of Brazilians (51%) are opposed to the process of indictment of ministers of the Federal Court (STF), according to a study Awesome/Quest released this Friday (19). This subject was the source of a crisis between the powers this month. A decision of the dean of the Court, the minister Gilmar Mendesforced the Senate to unveil a project that modifies the legislation.
According to Quaest, 33% of respondents said they agreed with the idea of making it difficult to remove ministers, and 16% did not know or did not respond. 2,004 people were surveyed between the 11th and 14th. The margin of error is 2% and the research has a confidence level of 95%.
In terms of political positioning, the Lulistas are most in favor of making the process more difficult. They represent 46% of the sample. Non-Lulista left-wing voters total 38%, but the majority of that group, 46%, said they disagree. Among those who say they are independent, the agreement rate is 30% and the disagreement rate is 50%.
Right-wing voters and Bolsonaristas are those who are most opposed to the idea of making the process difficult. Among Bolsonaristas, 59% said they disagreed and 33% agreed. In the group of non-Bolsonaro right-wing voters, the level of disagreement is even higher, reaching 70%, compared to 24% who responded that they agreed with the tightening of the rule.
Earlier this month, the minister Gilmar Mendes suspended sections of Impeachment Act. It established that only the Attorney General’s Office (RPG) could present a request for impeachment against the STF ministers. He also decided that the procedure would be opened with the support of two-thirds of the Senate, instead of the simple majority previously envisaged.
The decision, taken individually, sparked a crisis in the Senate. The President of the House, David Alcolumbre (União-AP), declared that the STF had invaded the competence of Parliament and announced the analysis of the draft amendment to the Constitution of time framewhich actually happened and overturned the Supreme Court judgment which dealt with the same subject.
There was an agreement, however, and Gilmar backed down. He suspended the part of the decision that limited requests to the PGR – thus making valid the authorization for any citizen to present a request for impeachment – but maintained a higher quorum for the process to be accepted and continue.
The Senate, in turn, published a project that modifies the Impeachment Act. The text was prepared by a commission of jurists in 2023 and was written by the former President of the House. Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). Its debate is expected to begin in early 2026.
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