The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), is awaiting a response from the Chamber’s legal advisers to define the fate of the mandate of federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) by Monday 15.
Motta’s team told the journalist that the decision should not necessarily be about Zambelli’s dismissal, but about the inauguration of Adilson Barroso (PL-SP). The 48-hour deadline granted by the Federal Court (STF) to the Chamber specifically mentions the inauguration of the substitute, and not the dismissal of the incumbent.
The First Panel of the STF confirmed yesterday the 12th the decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes who decreed the immediate loss of Zambelli’s mandate. The collegiate also approved the decision of the Chamber Council to swear in the deputy’s deputy within 48 hours, as provided for in the internal regulations of the Chamber.
The decision overturned the House’s own decision to dismiss Zambelli’s impeachment, which was seen as an affront to the STF. There were 227 votes for dismissal, 170 votes against and ten abstentions. He needed 257 votes to lose his mandate.
Moraes said in his vote that the House’s deliberations did not respect the principles of legality, morality and impersonality, in addition to constituting a “blatant deviation from the objective.”
The minister said that the loss of the mandate is automatic when a sentence is imposed in closed regime which exceeds the remaining term of the mandate, because the execution of the sentence prevents external work.
In these cases, it is up to Parliament to only declare the act, and not to deliberate on its validity.
The STF convicted Zambelli in May for intrusion into the systems and falsification of documents of the National Council of Justice (CNJ). The sentence is 10 years in prison in the initial closed regime, which leads to the loss of the mandate in the House.
The MP, however, fled the country before the appeal deadline. She is currently in preventive detention in Italy and awaits the decision of the Italian authorities regarding her extradition.
The plenary vote in the early hours of Thursday 11 contradicted the decision of the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) of the Chamber, which, on the afternoon of Wednesday 10, had approved the revocation.
Zambelli participated via video conference in the CCJ deliberations and asked parliamentarians to vote against his impeachment, saying he was innocent and had suffered political persecution. “It is in the search for true independence of the powers that I ask you to vote against my dismissal,” he declared.
In plenary, the defense was provided by Fábio Pagnozzi, the parliamentarian’s lawyer, who requested the dismissal of the deputies. “I tell MPs to forget ideology and act like human beings. It could be your parents or your children in a situation like this,” he said. The parliamentarian’s son, João Zambelli, followed the vote. He turned 18 this Thursday.
PT House leader Lindbergh Farias (RJ) called for impeachment. “We are here to vote for impeachment that should have happened a long time ago,” he said.
The PL tried to circumvent the impeachment, hoping that Zambelli would lose his mandate due to absences. Under the current rule, she maintains her eligibility under this condition.
If the mandate were revoked, the length of the sentence would be an additional eight years outside of elections. She will only be able to participate in elections again after 2043. A similar strategy was used with Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), whose mandate is expected to be decreed by the board.
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