Panel SA: Josué predicted that the defense of democracy would lead to a request for impeachment at Fiesp

On August 11 of last year, while participating in the act for democracy at the USP Faculty of Law, the president of Fiesp, Josué Gomes da Silva, already predicted that he would be the target of pressure to be removed from his post.

In June, Josué received, at the Fiesp headquarters, names like Arminio Fraga, Neca Setubal and Oscar Vilhena, director of FGV Direito SP, who invited him to participate in the movement, with the intention of attracting the business community to create a broad front for the defense of democracy in the face of escalating threats to institutions promoted by then-President Jair Bolsonaro.

According to reports of the meeting, Josué joined quickly and already showed concern about the scenario, especially with the attacks on the STF (Federal Supreme Court). From there, the manifesto read in San Francisco months later was written. Those who accompanied him until the end of the meeting say they heard Josué predict, even ironically, that he would still be the target of an impeachment attempt at Fiesp for defending democracy.

Complaints against Josué made by unions at the base of the federation surfaced at the end of July, after he released the document with the entity’s guidelines for presidential candidates in the last election.

In the text, Fiesp stated that democratic stability and respect for the rule of law are “indispensable conditions for Brazil to overcome its main challenges”. This is how the first pressures began. The movement, which had the participation of Paulo Skaf, former president of Bolsonaro’s allied entity, would evolve into a vote for Josué’s dismissal this Monday (16). Its supporters claim that the votes have no legal validity.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix