Vice President Hamilton Mourão (Republicans), 69, a senator elected by Rio Grande do Sul, defended in an interview with the Power 360 the approval of a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) to end monocratic decisions in the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
“It has to be an amendment to the Constitution saying that decisions have to be taken either by the group as a whole or by the plenary of the STF,” said the retired army general. “I find it complicated [da] decision of a single magistrate and that has repercussions on the entire nation”.
Watch the full interview with Hamilton Mourão (18min26s):
Mourão declared he was against increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. Recently, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) claimed to have received a proposal in this regard and that he could discuss the issue after the elections. Then he went back and said that the press “invented” the idea.
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The measure, said the vice president, is “casuistry”, would increase costs and cease to count on the support of Bolsonaro’s allies if the reelection candidate loses the 2nd round to former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
In the interview, Mourão also defended that Congress impose a mandate on STF ministers. “No human being is uninfluenced, so to speak, by this position of staying 25, 30 or even 35 years as a minister of the Supreme Court.”
In the Senate, the reserve general divides his priorities into an economic development axis and a social axis.
In the 1st, he mentions tax and administrative reforms, investments in infrastructure and support for agribusiness, especially in dealing with the effects of the drought in Rio Grande do Sul.
As part of the social axis, Mourão said, without details, that he will act through actions and projects related to health, education and public security.
Profile
General Antonio Hamilton Martins Mourão is 69 years old. Married, he has 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. He joined the Army in 1972, at Aman, the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras. Over a 46-year military career, he was an instructor at Aman and advisor to the staff of units and commands in the South, Midwest and Amazon regions.
He participated in missions abroad as a military observer, in Angola and Venezuela.
As a general officer, he was commander of the 2nd Jungle Infantry Brigade, in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas. In Porto Alegre, he was commander of the 6th Army Division and Military Commander of the South.
In 2018, already in the Army reserve, he was elected vice president of the Republic on the ticket of Jair Bolsonaro. In February 2020, he assumed the presidency of the National Council of the Legal Amazon.
In 2022, he ran for and won a seat in the Senate for Rio Grande do Sul, with more than 2.5 million votes.
Other excerpts from the interview
Military in government
“There is still a lot of prejudice in relation to the presence of military personnel, the vast majority of the reserves, in government positions, which are positions of free provision. [É] a group that has training paid for by the Union, which, normally, due to the characteristics of their career, is obliged to move to the reserve there in the range of 55 to 65 years of age and that is able to continue working across the country.”
“Calling it militarization is not the case here in Brazil, right? The governments that are really militarized are those where the military is there in uniform, as I saw in Venezuela.”
Abstention in the 2nd round
“In our state of Rio Grande do Sul, 1.7 million voters (19.8% of the electorate) did not turn up at the polls. It is important that this class attend. We have already carried out a 1st analysis, many people were people who were working in the field and the owner did not allow them to go vote. So, it is important that you release it and we are doing work in this direction to increase the difference in votes in favor of President Bolsonaro there in Rio Grande do Sul.”
Deforestation in the Amazon
“We had to resort to the Armed Forces 3 times, which is not their main activity, all in order to contain this advance of illegal deforestation, which we managed to contain. It has gone up, but now in this last cycle it is contained.”
“The lack of resources makes it difficult to take more constant action on the ground […]. Travel is expensive because it involves the use of a helicopter, by plane.”
Priorities in the Senate
“[Somente] through sustainable economic development we will be able to grow and, with that, generate employment and income for the mass of the population. [A] people need tax reform, administrative reform, investments in infrastructure, support for agribusiness.”
“Another major axis, which I call the social axis, are issues related to health and public safety.”
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