Alves: risk of not following Supreme Court decision is “zero”
The Speaker of the House adopted a conciliatory tone after meeting with the President of the Supreme Court, Joaquim Barbosa, earlier this afternoon; "There is not the slightest possibility, the minimum risk of confrontation between the Legislative and the Judiciary is zero"; according to him, the message for those who think differently is: "forget about it".
BRASILIA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Henrique Eduardo Alves (PMDB-RN), stated this Wednesday that the possibility of the House not complying with a ruling from the Supreme Federal Court (STF) is "zero".
He was responding to journalists' question about the chances of the Chamber not complying with the Court's ruling on the loss of mandate for the deputies convicted in the Mensalão trial.
"There is absolutely no possibility, the minimum risk of confrontation between the Legislative and the Judiciary is zero. Zero. Anyone who thinks otherwise, as the saying goes: forget about it," he said after meeting with the president of the Supreme Court, Joaquim Barbosa.
On Monday, upon taking office, Henrique Alves made statements that were interpreted as a defiance of the Supreme Court's decision. "The other branches of government, with all due respect... but the branch that represents the Brazilian people, in its most sincere legitimacy, whether they like it or not, is this House here, it is the Legislative branch, it is the Brazilian Parliament," he said two days ago.
On Wednesday, the new Speaker of the House highlighted "the respect" between the two branches of government.
"There is immense respect between the Legislative and Judicial branches, and vice versa... So each one knows their responsibility," he declared.
Alves also stated that the procedure in the Chamber of Deputies to confirm the expulsion of the congressmen convicted in the Mensalão scandal will be "quick," but the process needs to reach Congress first.
He said that it is up to the Chamber to fulfill the "legal formalities" and that there is no possibility of "confronting the merits of the case".
Last December, a majority of the Supreme Court justices decided that parliamentarians involved in the mensalão scandal, a scheme to buy political support during the first term of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, should lose their mandates as soon as the process is concluded.
The criminal trial has concluded, but the judgment has not yet been published, and appeals may be filed. Among those convicted are former Chief of Staff José Dirceu and former PT treasurer Delúbio Soares.
The Supreme Court's decision affects the mandates of congressmen José Genoino (PT-SP), João Paulo Cunha (PT-SP), Valdemar Costa Neto (PR-SP), and Pedro Henry (PP-MT), all convicted in the trial.
The Supreme Court's decision to revoke the mandates of convicted deputies has sparked a clash with Congress and generated various interpretations about which branch of government—Legislative or Judicial—has the prerogative to remove parliamentarians from office.
Former Speaker of the House Marco Maia (PT-RS) even said, before the Supreme Court's decision, that he might not comply with it.
(Reporting by Ana Flor)