MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil Supreme Court defuses clash with Senate, but Calheiros no longer in presidential succession line
The decision should aid President Temer, who has been counting on Calheiros, a political ally, to help shepherd through Congress unpopular austerity measures Brazil’s Supreme Court voted Wednesday to leave Senate President Renan Calheiros in his powerful leadership post, raising hopes economic overhauls making their way through Congress can be approved.
Calheiros had defied a preliminary high court order issued Monday to stand down as Senate leader following his indictment on embezzlement charges, sparking a constitutional crisis that had put the country on edge.
The court’s decision should aid President Michel Temer, who has been counting on Calheiros, a political ally, to help shepherd through Congress unpopular austerity measure aimed at closing a worrisome budget deficit and rebuilding Brazil’s credibility with investors.
Monday’s order had been issued by a lone justice on the 11-member Supreme Court. Justice Marco Aurélio Mello ruled Senator Calheiros should step aside following his indictment for falsifying his Senate expense reports, allegations Calheiros denies. Such temporary rulings are binding unless and until they are overturned by the full court.
The high court indicated recently, in a different preliminary vote, that officials under indictment can’t be in line to succeed the president. Mr. Mello based his order to remove Mr. Calheiros from the Senate presidency on that understanding.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday Mr. Calheiros can remain Senate president, but will be removed from the line of succession. “It was a decision by large majority, there is no way to rebel against it,” said Justice Celso de Mello, the most senior of the justices. “The court decided strictly within its competency and the constitution.”
A constitutional expert expressed dismay the high court let a powerful politician choose to defy an order by one of its members.
“They’re sending a message that he is stronger than they are,” said Ivar Hartmann, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.
Alessandro Molon, a representative from Rede, the party that asked for Calheiros to be removed from the Senate presidency, was at the court and said afterward, “This is a bad decision. We’ve missed an opportunity to turn a page in Brazil’s history.”
Senator Calheiros’s refusal to follow the initial order was unprecedented, and had ratcheted up tension that has been building for months between Brazil’s judiciary and legislative branches.
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Read all commentsNo longer in succession line but in the position to wipe-off the charges against him [and his band of thieves] and be considered as “clean”!
Dec 09th, 2016 - 10:34 am 0@DT (replying to the exchange under “US acor Steven S...”)
Dec 11th, 2016 - 08:01 pm 0The reason why the killings in Rio don't solve anything, is probably because there’s an infinite supply of criminals…one gets killed, another pops up…depending on the size of a slum, you’ll have one or more gangs fighting for supremacy…kids growing up under their influence, join, attracted by the dream of easy money, and ‘power’…despite usually being short lived…most don’t reach 25. Can’t say why they leave home, but once they do, they resort to crime to survive. By what they see in their communities, they soon learn their lives aren't worth much, so to them, neither are their victim’s.
It’s usually only a matter of time before they kill…and being minors, if caught, the Justice system is so inefficient that they are back on the streets in no time. And this cycle repeats itself until they themselves are killed. The stats showing that 20% of killings in Rio are committed by the police, totally ignore the cops that are shot, or killed in the line of duty, or assassinated, off-duty - 386 in the first 11 months of 2016, of which over 100 died. Just for the record, the (organized) SP death squads I mentioned before, no longer exist as such, but Rio has this characteristic of the slums being plonk in the middle of the city, so crime, which in SP usually gravitates around the (far fewer) slum areas, infests every inch of Rio. Today, in Rio, while some cops work for gangs (also as spies within the police), most are unprepared and simply caught up in an unending war; most killings are related to shootouts between police and gangs.
When the military handed power back to the civilians, many of the so-called ‘freedom fighters’ who had escaped or been exiled, were pardoned and came back….so, from killers themselves, they found refuge in the PT and later became the 'guardians' (?) of human rights. While they defend their own interests and those of the party, the victims are the least of their concerns.
@JB
Dec 13th, 2016 - 08:35 pm 0Well, that certainly supports the argument that the death penalty is not a deterrent!
I think the biggest risk with all the police shootings, is that the police end up becoming just another armed gang vying for power in the city. They have basically lost control already. When the police escalate to killing the criminals on sight, the criminals know damn well they had better try and kill the police first, so it doesn't actually make them any safer.
And the fact that when the criminals are killed, more appear to take their place, really shows that a different solution is needed. People wouldn't choose a lifestyle that is likely to get them killed by 25 if they had other options.
From what I know, the biggest predictor of crime is inequality, not poverty as such. (I suppose if everyone is poor, then there is nothing to steal.) As well as trying to reduce inequality, which is hard, the most effective way to tackle the crime would be to cut off the gangs' income as much as possible. Do you have any idea what they make most of their money from?
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