Which is the real Ayres Britto: the one from JEG or the one from PIG?
The new president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) demonstrates haste in judging the Mensalão case when he gives interviews to Veja and O Globo; however, in an interview with Carta Capital, the minister argues that one cannot give in to pressure; has he changed his mind?; has he adapted to what the publications wanted to hear?; or was it the publications that adapted?
247 – Until this Friday the 27th, the discourse of the new president of the Supreme Federal Court, Carlos Ayres Britto, was one of urgency in judging the mensalão scandal, considered the largest in the history of the STF, with 38 defendants and 600 witnesses. If not the largest, "the most unusual, the most bizarre," in the minister's opinion. At least that's what he said in interviews given to major media outlets – vilified by some as representatives of the Coup-Mongering Press Party (PIG) – such as Veja magazine and the O Globo newspaper. However, in an interview with Carta Capital, which hit newsstands today, Ayres Britto adopts a more measured discourse, stating that the STF cannot "yield to pressure," referring to the population. Or even: "We cannot ride this wave of collective anger, of social pressure."
When speaking to Veja magazine, the Sergipe native who assumed the Supreme Court seat last week declared: “My job is to set the date as soon as the case is cleared for the agenda.” Ayres Britto is referring to the conclusion of the report, the responsibility of Justice Joaquim Barbosa. In a report by O Globo, the Justice needled his colleague Ricardo Lewandowski, the case's reviewing rapporteur: “You don't want to go down in history as the gravedigger of the mensalão scandal, do you?”
In possession of a document that could reach 500 pages since December, Lewandowski needs to prepare a detailed opinion and deliver it to the court's presidency so that the trial can be scheduled. He has not yet said when he will finish the work, although he has indicated that he intends to complete it this semester.
The haste and priority declared by Ayres Britto in his first speeches raises the question of whether the president of the Supreme Court has truly changed his way of thinking, now arguing that one cannot yield to popular pressure. Or is his speech simply tailored to what that particular media outlet wants to hear? In that case, the jurist could be compared to Leonard Zelig, a character from Woody Allen's novel who has the ability to transform his appearance to please those around him.
There is a third hypothesis: that the media outlets that questioned Ayres Britto tailored the minister's speech to their own interests. From this point of view, it becomes difficult to know what the president of the Supreme Court thinks.