Prosecutor-General says Rousseff has authority to appoint Lula as Chief of Staff

Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot sent a report to the Supreme Court (STF) Monday (Mar. 28) upholding the appointment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Chief of Staff.

According to the prosecutor, “considering the president's authority to appoint ministers and the political crisis in the country, blocking a political administrative action may pose a serious threat to institutional order.”

Janot said, however, that until Lula is authorized to take office as Chief of Staff, investigations against him under Operation Car Wash should be under the responsibility of the lower court federal judge who presides over the case, Sérgio Moro, noting that “it is possible to construe [Lula's] appointment as an attempt to impair the jurisdiction of the lower court.”

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes blocked Lula's inauguration as Chief of Staff, arguing that his appointment was a move to take the investigation against him away from Judge Moro's jurisdiction.

Translated by Mayra Borges