Gurgel wants Roseana Sarney removed from office.
Brazil's Attorney General agreed with a request made by the former governor of Maranhão, José Reinaldo Tavares (PSB); according to the lawsuit, Roseana signed agreements with municipalities with the intention of obtaining electoral support from mayors and local leaders; one piece of evidence is the fact that several agreements were signed on the eve of the party convention that chose Roseana as the candidate to run for office in 2010; in the three days leading up to June 24 of that year, the date of the convention, the governor allegedly signed 670 agreements that provided for the release of more than R$ 165 million to municipalities.
247 - Brazil's Attorney General, Roberto Gurgel, has sent an opinion to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) recommending the removal from office of the governor of Maranhão, Roseana Sarney (PMDB), and her vice-governor, Washington Luiz Oliveira (PT), for abuse of political and economic power in the 2010 elections. The action was brought by former governor José Reinaldo Tavares (PSB). The seven ministers of the TSE may take the Attorney General's opinion into account when judging the case, which has not yet been scheduled.
According to the lawsuit, Roseana signed agreements with municipalities with the intention of obtaining electoral support from mayors and local leaders. One piece of evidence is the fact that several agreements were signed on the eve of the party convention that chose Roseana as the candidate to run for office in 2010. In the three days leading up to June 24 of that year, the date of the convention, the governor allegedly signed 670 agreements that provided for the release of more than R$ 165 million to municipalities in the state.
"The government of the State of Maranhão intensified the signing of agreements and the transfer of resources to municipalities and community entities in the first half of the election year, especially in the month of June and in the three days preceding the convention of the candidates," says Gurgel.
“In the case under examination, it cannot be stated that the signing of the agreements constituted a formal or regular act of government. Almost all agreements and transfers to municipalities in 2010 were carried out in the month of June. This action had a clear and immediate objective: to interfere in the ongoing electoral process and benefit the candidacies of the respondents, giving them different conditions from the other candidates,” he concluded.
He emphasized that the agreements were finalized more quickly than usual. "Within two days, they were signed, published in the official gazette, and the money credited to the municipality's account, with withdrawals, according to information in the case files, being made in cash, directly at the teller window," the prosecutor noted. Gurgel pointed out that, in June 2010 alone, 44 agreements were signed with the Secretariat of Cities, all with the same objective.