Panel SA: Bolsonaro appeals, but Justice leaves purchase of armored vehicles for Lula

The Jair Bolsonaro government appealed, but the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court) upheld the injunction suspending the purchase by the Army of 98 armored vehicles, a deal worth around R$5 billion.

This Thursday (8), Judge João Batista Gomes Moreira, rapporteur of the case at the court, accompanied the injunction given on Monday (5) by federal judge Wilson Alves de Souza, which barred the signing of the vehicle purchase contract .

The behind-the-scenes assessment is that, as there will be only one more plenary session this year, there will not be enough time for the merits of the case to be analyzed by the other judges.

Without a final decision, the case remains suspended until Lula takes office at the turn of the month – the elected government may even cancel the purchase.

As Panel SA showed, the popular action was filed by Charles Capella de Abreu, former adviser to the Planalto Palace in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments.

In the initial request, Abreu argued that the Army could not sign a contract for the purchase of 98 armored vehicles worth a total of R$ 5 billion while the federal government promotes budget blocks in the areas of health and education.

He also considered that the decision to proceed with the purchase should be made by the Lula government, with the Union budget already in hand, and not by the government defeated at the polls.

In this Thursday’s decision, the judge João Batista Gomes Moreira recognized Charles Abreu’s arguments and said that the change in the country’s political command would be a reason, yes, for a pause in the signing of the contract.

One of the arguments presented by the Attorney General’s Office in the reconsideration was that the BRL 5 billion contract would be divided over 15 years and the budget planning for the purchase has been carried out for years.

In this first stage, which would start on the second (5), the government would pay R$ 90 million for two sample vehicles. After trials, the Army would decide whether or not to purchase the complete fleet.

“Although the planning and bidding for the operation date back a few months or years, what is certain is that the triggering of the contract occurs at this moment of transition, with possible changes in policy, especially of external security”, said João Batista Gomes Moreira.

Then he claims that the desire to buy at this moment of exchange in command of power shows inattention. Moreira says that the renewal of the fleet needs the “assent of the new managers of public affairs about to assume their positions.”

Julio Wiziack (interim) with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix