Is Bolsonaro Government Facing Its End After Minister Moro’s Resignation?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The political environment around President Jair Bolsonaro has become even more tense following the resignation of his most popular cabinet Minister.

On Friday, Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro submitted his resignation to the head of government after the latter dismissed Maurício Valeixo, the Federal Police Director and Moro’s confidant, behind his back and in his name. The Minister justified his decision to resign on the grounds that Bolsonaro intended to appoint his own confidant to the post, in order to gain control over the work of the Federal Police (PF).

“This breach of trust is an indication that the President truly wants me out.”

According to Moro, this is not the first time Bolsonaro has tried to interfere with the work of the Federal Police. “The President wanted someone on the line [in the PF] to have direct access to information,” the ex-minister said. This mainly concerned investigation into the President’s sons.

On Thursday, the Federal Police identified the President’s #2 son, Rio city councillor Carlos Bolsonaro, as the head of a criminal scheme that deliberately spread fake news against the Supreme Court (STF). The Court had mandated the PF division to investigate the organizers of last Sunday’s anti-democratic protests, which called for a military coup and which Bolsonaro attended.

Last October, Carlos Bolsonaro became the focus of attention when the Globo media group, citing the Rio de Janeiro police, linked the presidential family to the murder of left-wing city councilor Marielle Franco. Bolsonaro, through his security minister Moro, then urged the Federal Police to take over the investigation.

In December 2018, Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, was targeted by the Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF). The agency identified “atypical financial transactions” of R$1.2 million (US$300,000), involving one of his former staff members when he was a state deputy.

In August 2019, before the investigations into illegal campaign financing and bribery could be successful, the president disempowered the financial control authority and moved it from under the Justice Minister to the control of the Central Bank, contrary to the explicit request of Minister Moro.

The most recent change in the leadership of the Federal Police is also regarded by legal experts as a clear abuse of office by the President. Moro’s statement about the circumstances behind his resignation “exposes the President’s desire to interfere in investigations. Obtaining intelligence information from the Federal Police is intended to make political use of it”, said criminalist Bruno Salles in an interview.

However, by losing Moro, Bolsonaro may now have jeopardized his government. Legislators within the government bloc regretted the Minister of Justice’s departure and demanded explanations from the President.

Since Friday, the military group in the cabinet have been discussing whether or not to leave the government. They make up a third of the administration structure and are regarded as the President’s main supporters.

The departure of Moro shocked even Bolsonaro’s most influential constituency, the Evangelicals. The Association of Evangelical Attorneys demanded that his interference in the federal police force be investigated immediately. Evangelical leaders had asked Moro even before his resignation “not to submit to Bolsonaro’s tyranny,” reports the conservative newspaper Estadão. Sections of the political right-wing are also calling for Bolsonaro’s resignation.

And indeed, impeachment proceedings against the President have for the first time a chance of success. Moro’s popularity helped Bolsonaro into office and until the very end, it was far above that of the President. Leftists and conservatives could form a majority in Congress against the minority government of the independent President.

There are already 24 motions to impeach Bolsonaro that have been submitted to the Chamber president Rodrigo Maia for consideration. On Wednesday, April 22nd, the former presidential candidate of the leftwing Democratic Labor Party (PDT), Ciro Gomes, submitted a motion to this effect.

Gomes accuses Bolsonaro of abuse of office for taking part in last Sunday’s public demonstrations, which called for action against Congress and the Federal Supreme Court. The Socialist PSOL deputies have made a similar claim in their impeachment motion last March.

Meanwhile, Moro moved a step to the left, acknowledging the former Workers’ Party (PT) governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016). “It is true that the government of the time committed endless mistakes, those massive acts of corruption. But the independence of the federal police was always guaranteed during the investigations to do [my] job,” Moro said.

As an investigating judge in the Lava Jato corruption scandal, Moro often promoted lawsuits against members of the Workers’ Party.

In the 2018 election year, he placed Lula, the most promising presidential candidate, behind bars in a case internationally criticized by leftwing politicians as politically motivated. According to these politicians, Bolsonaro was only able to win the election after Lula was jailed; after winning, he appointed Moro as the “super Minister” of Justice and Public Safety.