04/16/2024 – 22:03
The auditorium of the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MP-SP) was full of prosecutors who attended the administrative inauguration of Paulo Sérgio de Oliveira e Costa as the new Attorney General of Justice. There were those who remained standing to watch the ceremony. One absence, however, caught attention. Attorney Antonio Carlos Da Ponte, his opponent, who ran for the opposition, did not attend the event. When questioned by the report, Da Ponte did not comment on why he was not excited about honoring his opponent's rise to the top of the institution.
Da Ponte was placed second on the triple list sent to governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), who chose Paulo Sérgio, the third most voted in the internal elections.
The election was disputed again after the hegemony of former prosecutor Mario Sarrubbo, who ran for re-election without opposition in 2022. He left his second term before the end, to take over the National Public Security Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, and supported Paulo Sergio.
It is the second time that Da Ponte reaches the triple list, but he was passed over at the time of nomination. In 2020, he received the most votes in internal elections, but then-governor João Doria nominated Sarrubbo. In 2022, he gave up his candidacy, convinced that, if he triumphed, he would not be the choice of Rodrigo Garcia, Doria's former deputy.
The new PGJ also had the support of the Government Secretary, Gilberto Kassab, a strong name in the Tarcísio administration, and Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
In his inauguration speech, the Attorney General of Justice made a nod to his opponents in the election. “The presence of all (the candidates) further strengthened and qualified the democratic moment. The debates on ideas and institutional projects were rich,” he stated. “Once the electoral period is over, it is time to manage collectively.”
The election, however, left hurt feelings among those who were passed over. As shown by Estadão, prosecutor José Carlos Cosenzo, first on the list, made an outburst to his colleagues in a WhatsApp group. “My disappointment is with people close to me, who are no longer in the group, but told me they supported me while fulfilling the determination of someone outside the institution.”
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