José Alberto Simonetti: 'The Order does not belong to parties, but to lawyers' - ISTOÉ DINHEIRO

Lawyer José Alberto Simonetti, who today assumes the presidency of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), said that his management will focus on issues that directly interest the class, seeking to “reconnect” the entity’s lawyers. The new president said that the Order will be attentive to the October elections, but stressed that it “does not belong to any political party at all”. “The Order truly belongs to the law.” With a less combative profile than his predecessor, Felipe Santa Cruz, Simonetti was elected yesterday in the vote of 81 federal councilors.

The sectional elections were marked by the debate on the policy of gender parity and racial quotas. Will your administration seek to broaden this debate?

I was a big supporter of the passage of the law of gender parity between men and women and also of the implementation of racial quotas. We were able to get these two topics approved in full. We managed to overcome the principle of annuality, so that they could be implemented in the last elections. And so it was done. So today we have a much more plural plenary. Five women were elected to the presidencies of sectionals. This brings enormous joy to the system.

What are your management priorities?

The management will launch a census so that we can get to know the needs of Brazilian law in depth, paying attention to the peculiarities and regionalities. From this census we will implement policies to rescue the incessant, uncompromising and inflexible defense of prerogatives. A surveillance on the enforcement of the abuse of authority law, which already brings with it a type that criminalizes the violation of prerogatives. Exactly the issue of fees is very dear to us.

How will the OAB act in the political context?

The Order will continue to fulfill its constitutional role, collaborating for the balance of the democratic state of law, the protection of citizenship, serving the law. I also record very emphatically that the OAB does not belong to any political party at all. No political party that wants to try or dare to run the Order will be able to make this happen. The OAB is an institution that has a combative history over its almost 92 years. So what I can say is that the Order does not belong to Lula, Bolsonaro, on the left, on the right, it truly belongs to the law. The Order will be attentive to the electoral process. We will be fulfilling our role, which we have always fulfilled with the Superior Electoral Court, in all elections, especially in presidential elections. And we will not shy away from criticizing or even rebelling in any field when we identify excesses that offend Brazilian society and directly offend the balance, the stability of the democratic state of law.

what mr. waiting for the next president?

Whoever the next president is, what the Order will try, from the first moment, is dialogue. We strongly believe that dialogue, before any clash, can resolve any situation. We intend, through the debate, the true and effective union of Brazil.

The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.