Lewandowski will be the new Minister of Justice, according to sources

Former STF minister, retired upon reaching the age limit of 75, will replace Flávio Dino in the portfolio, according to the Brazilian press. The appointment should be made official this Thursday. Former Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Ricardo Lewandowski will be the new Minister of Justice and Public Security, according to reports published in the Brazilian press.

He would have accepted the invitation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he met on Monday (08/01) at Palácio do Planalto, before an event in Congress on the first anniversary of the coup acts of January 8 in Brasília .

Lewandowski met again with Lula and the current occupant of the portfolio, Flávio Dino, on Wednesday night, to discuss topics relating to work in the ministry and the assembly of his future team, and the three should meet again this Thursday, when the appointment is expected to be announced.

Dino, who held the position since the beginning of Lula's third term as President, was appointed by the president to take over the vacancy opened by Rosa Weber's retirement in the STF, and his name has already been approved during a hearing in the Senate.

Lula's favorite

Lewandowski retired from the STF in April 2023 upon reaching the maximum age for the court of 75, being replaced by Cristiano Zanin. He was Lula's favorite name to occupy the position, after the president gave up on nominating a woman for the position.

In 2006, Lewandowski was nominated by Lula himself for the position he held on the STF, having been president of the court from 2014 to 2016, the period in which he presided over the impeachment trial of former president Dilma Rousseff. Close to the president, Lewandowski even accompanied him in the presidential delegation during the trip to the UN Climate Conference (COP-28) in Dubai, last December.

Another person tipped to take over the Ministry of Justice was Dino's current executive secretary, Ricardo Capelli, whose permanence in the department is uncertain.

rc/bl (ots)