Fiesp president defends the Judiciary and says that the entity will be on the side of democracy

The president of Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo), Josué Gomes da Silva, defended the Judiciary, institutions and the Democratic State of Law in a closed meeting of two superior councils of the federation, last Monday (20).

The meeting, held in São Paulo, was also attended by, among others, former President Michel Temer (MDB), who heads one of the councils, and Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

According to reports from people who attended the meeting, Josué opened the meeting by talking about the need for a strong and independent Judiciary, in addition to emphasizing that Fiesp will be on the side of democracy and the solidity of institutions.

The speech was understood by these people as yet another sign that the federation’s command will not align itself with the coup-based onslaughts sponsored by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and a good part of his allies — in particular, against the electoral system and minister. of top cuts.

In an interview with journalists who were sympathetic on Sunday night (26), Bolsonaro once again unleashed a string of insinuations and threats from the coup, again without showing any concrete evidence of fraud in electronic voting machines.

He signaled, however, that he was aware of what a democratic rupture would entail when he said why he did not take an “attitude of force” in the September 7 demonstrations of last year or when the STF barred the name he wanted to put in charge of the Federal Police. , in 2020.

“You can be a hero for two or three days, but then the bill comes.”

Josué is the son of former president José Alencar (1931-2011), who was vice president of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), he has already criticized Bolsonaro, but has stressed that his management at Fiesp will be non-partisan.

The businessman’s words at last week’s meeting contrast with the attitudes of his predecessor, Paulo Skaf, who, among other actions, headed the “I will not pay the duck” campaign, which had the inflatable yellow duck as its symbol and culminated in the adhesion of the entity to the campaign for the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT), in 2016. Skaf is also an ally of Bolsonaro.

THE Sheet sent Josué questions about the meeting, the exact context and the specific reasons that motivated his speech at this moment and what concrete actions Fiesp can take in defense of the institutions.

Through his advice, the businessman, who owns the Coteminas textile industry, said only that “Fiesp will always defend institutions and the democratic state of law and [na reunião] paid his homage to the judiciary”.

In the first half of May, the Sheet sought out various political authorities, parties, and entities representing society to gather opinions on Bolsonaro’s attacks on the electoral system and higher court ministers.

Fiesp, at the time, was among the entities that preferred not to speak out.

Last week’s meeting at the federation was held by the higher councils of National Studies and Policy (Cosenp) and Legal Affairs (Conjur). The first is chaired by Temer.

The theme of the meeting, which lasted about three hours, was “law and politics”.

After Josué’s speech, there was an explanation by Ruy Martins Altenfelder Silva, a former member of the Presidency’s Public Ethics Commission and president of the Academia Paulista de Letras Jurídicas, and by Gilmar, who completed 20 years as minister of STF

In his presentation, Ruy Altenfelder said that he emphasized that there is not always harmony and independence between the Powers. He criticized the performance of the Executive, which, in his opinion, eventually invades the competence of the Judiciary.

He quoted to Sheetas an example, the grace granted by Bolsonaro to federal deputy Daniel Silveira (PTB-RJ), sentenced by the STF to 8 years and 9 months in prison.

“Inviolability should not be unrestricted. A deputy could not speak what he wants, much less speak against the democratic rule of law,” he said, without citing Silveira by name.

He, however, also contested the monocratic decisions of Supreme Court justices, defending a limitation on the use of the resource. “Josué said something that I agree with: institutions must be political, not partisan. They must take a political position, but not a partisan one.”

Fiesp reported on the meeting on its website, stating that Josué defended the harmony between the Powers, the strength of the institutions and the essential role of the Judiciary. And he reproduced two sentences from the president of the federation.

“There is still a lot to be done, but everything we have already built is due to the fact that we have strong institutions. We live in a democratic state of law in which no power should prevail over the other (…) This house is next to the strengthening institutions and the judiciary.”

Josué took charge of Fiesp (the largest class entity in Brazilian industry) in January, after 17 years of Skaf management.

In conversations with journalists in February, the president of the federation said that Bolsonaro will be remembered by the history books for having produced multiple attacks on institutions – on the polls, on the covid vaccine and on the press. “But if he eventually gets elected, I hope he does it differently.”