The current former federal deputy, Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), took advantage of the request for resignation from her mandate to salute the protection the Chamber has received and affirm that she “is still alive” even after leaving the Chamber staff. Zambelli was sentenced to 10 years in prison for ordering a hacker to invade the National Council of Justice (CNJ) system and has been imprisoned in Italy since July.
“Historical records: mandates can be interrupted; popular will, never. I remain alive, the truth remains and Brazil will continue to hear my voice,” he declared, in the request sent to the President of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicans).
Zambelli also thanked the decisions of the Chamber which maintained the mandate of the deputy, before the Federal Court annulled them and pronounced the loss of Zambelli’s mandate. “This act of the House was institutional and constitutional: a moment in which the People’s House affirmed the sovereignty of voting, legal procedure, and the limits of the state’s punitive power,” he wrote.
Read the full statement:
RESIGNATION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE
TO THE MOST EXCELLENT LORD
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
FEDERAL MP HUGO MOTTA
Your Excellency Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Brazilian people,
I, Carla Zambelli Salgado de Oliveira, federal deputy elected to the 57th Legislature (2023-2027), representative of the State of São Paulo, legitimized by 946,244 votes in the 2022 general elections, make this declaration through my public defenders, Dr. Fabio Pagnozzi and Dr. Pedro Pagnozzi, given the impossibility of appearing in person before this Assembly, due to my deprivation of liberty in foreign territory. So I speak not only as a parliamentarian, but as the voice of almost a million Brazilians who trusted me with their representation.
What is recorded in this act is not only a renunciation of a mandate, but an institutional step. The Chamber of Deputies fully exercised its constitutional competence, respecting the procedure provided for in Article 55 of the Federal Constitution, in particular its ?? 2nd and 3rd, which exclusively attribute to the Legislative Power the deliberation on the loss of the parliamentary mandate, by decision of the Plenary, ensuring a contradictory and broad defense.
During this procedure, a report was prepared by the rapporteur of the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission, Deputy Diego Garcia, demonstrating, in a technical and well-founded manner, that there is no legal evidence capable of justifying the loss of my mandate, nor elements that support any conviction. This report highlighted a basic truth of the rule of law: a warrant cannot be revoked without proof.
This understanding was confirmed by the Plenary Assembly of the Chamber of Deputies, which, without deciding on impeachment, declared that there was no legitimate legal basis to remove a mandate granted by almost a million Brazilians. This act was institutional and constitutional: a moment in which the House of the People affirmed the sovereignty of voting, legal procedure, and the limits of the state’s punitive power.
Constitutional History teaches that free regimes only exist when each power recognizes its limits. Montesquieu warned that “whoever has power has a tendency to abuse it, until he finds limits.” The file produced here reaffirms that Parliament is not an accessory body, but an autonomous constitutional power, whose competence cannot be emptied without serious risk for the democratic rule of law. This episode will remain an institutional reference for similar situations, in which the preservation of the popular mandate is discussed in the face of the undue expansion of the punitive power of the state.
Subsequently, a deliberation of the Federal Court determined the loss of the mandate, rejecting the result of the procedure carried out by this Parliament.
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 is 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 of its revocation.
This gesture is not a capitulation. This is a historic record. This is the assertion that mandates pass; the principles remain. Democracy is not limited to the ballot box; she lives in respect for institutions and in the courage to record the truth.
Finally, I address the Brazilian people. To my voters, I say: the truth has been told, history has been written and conscience remains free. Ideas don’t disappear. Beliefs do not hold. Popular will does not disappear.
Historical: mandates can be interrupted; the popular will, never. I remain alive, the truth remains and Brazil will continue to hear my voice.
May God bless the Brazilian people, enlighten this nation and lead it always on the path of law, justice and freedom.
Respectfully,
Carla Zambelli Salgado de Oliveira
Federal Deputy – Brazil
Contact: naomi.matsui@estadao.com
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