Aides to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have begun pushing for a tougher government response to the country's escalating institutional crisis, including convening the rarely used Council of the Republic and proposing a constitutional amendment to impose fixed terms on future justices of the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The information comes from journalist Daniel Rittner, speaking on CNN Brasil's Bastidores program.
Rittner said the discussions have reached the Planalto Palace, are being debated among ministries in Brasília's Esplanada dos Ministérios, and are also being discussed within the campaign of Lula's Workers' Party.
What is the Council of the Republic
The Council of the Republic is an advisory body that is rarely convened and is typically activated only during institutional crises. It is made up of the president, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Socialist Party, the justice minister, the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the majority and minority leaders of both houses, and representatives of civil society appointed by the executive and legislative branches.
The proposal to convene the council was first raised by Marco Aurélio Carvalho, a lawyer with the Prerrogativas group and a conselheiro close to the president, though the debate has since spread beyond his circle, according to Rittner.
Pressure over Alexandre de Moraes and Fachin
Direct interlocutors of Lula are also pushing for an urgent new meeting with STF President Edson Fachin, carrying demands that would not be made public. These reportedly include opening an investigation into Justice Alexandre de Moraes and removing Justice André Mendonça from his role overseeing the Master and INSS cases, over suspicions about his impartiality.
These aides argue that public debate has made it untenable to keep shielding Moraes given the opening of investigations, and they are also pushing for the closure of the so-called fake news inquiry, the long-running STF investigation into digital disinformation campaigns.
Proposal for fixed Supreme Court terms
Another central point of the internal debate is whether the government should propose, before the elections, a constitutional amendment setting a maximum term of 8, 10 or 15 years for future STF justices, who currently serve until the mandatory retirement age of 75.
The aim would be to avoid the perception that the Planalto Palace, in alignment with a wing of the court, intends to maintain dominance over the tribunal for the next two or three decades, particularly since Lula, if re-elected, would be able to nominate four more justices to the STF.
Federal Police shake-up and slipping poll numbers
The crisis took on new dimensions with the removal of Andrei Rodrigues as head of the Federal Police, a move endorsed by the STF's Second Panel, including a vote from Justice Kassio Nunes Marques that some of the president's allies considered uncertain.
Adding to the pressure is concern over opinion polls. A Nexus survey released on September 8 showed Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party numerically ahead of Lula in a runoff scenario, while a Quaest poll released the day before had shown the two tied.
Rittner said that September 8 was no longer the same as September 7 or the week before, summarizing the assessment of the president's interlocutors. According to Rittner, these aides believe the situation has worsened both in terms of the institutional crisis and its impact on Lula in the polls, and that the government can no longer afford to stay still.
