Ministers launch an offensive in the Senate to vote for the Messiah

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During telephone conversations and in their offices, the ministers asked parliamentarians to support Messias’ legal career, defend his membership in the STF and emphasize that he will contribute to the composition of the Tribunal. Esplanada members work alongside the Centrão and right wings to try to break resistance in the hostile environment of the Senate. One of the obstacles contributing to this difficult scenario is the fear that Messias, once he arrives at the Court, will have a role similar to that of Minister Flávio Dino.

Dino’s demands in the action which demands more transparency in parliamentary amendments have provoked the irritation of parliamentarians, who consider that there is an interference in their prerogatives. The unease has already spread to the AGU, and Lula’s ministers are telling senators that this fear is unfair, arguing that Messias has a flexible profile. Contacted, the union’s attorney general made no comment.

Haddad looks for parliamentarians with whom he has maintained relationships on important Treasury issues, while Tebet focuses on MDB senators. Alckmin, meanwhile, works discreetly with the four members of the PSB bench in the Senate. The ministers preferred not to speak.

— The temperature is dropping. A positive point is that everyone has great respect and recognizes their preparation for the mission — said Minister Wellington Dias.

The ministers considered positive the postponement of the hearing due to the turbulent environment that reigns in the Senate and believe that the schedule will allow the conversation between Lula and the President of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), to take place in a less tense atmosphere. The Messiah would be questioned tomorrow, but the date was made impossible by the government’s refusal to send the message to the Senate, an act which formalizes the presidential nomination.

The suspension of the hearing was announced while Messias was in the office of Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), who reported that Messias had heard the decision read without reacting. According to Aziz, the frustration over the non-nomination of former Speaker of the House Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) should not be confused with personal hostility towards Messias: the resistance, the senators say, is political.

Relations between Lula and Alcolumbre collapsed after the AGU nomination, with the Senate president defending Pacheco’s choice. Furthermore, Alcolumbre broke with the leader of the government in the House, Jacques Wagner (PT-BA), for not having been informed of the date on which Lula would appoint Messias.