RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Celso de Mello reacted to President Jair Bolsonaro’s initiative to share videos on WhatsApp groups calling for demonstrations on March 15th in his support, and against the Court and Congress.
According to the dean of the STF, the initiative, “if confirmed”, reveals “the dark side of a President of the Republic who ignores the value of constitutional order, who ignores the basic meaning of separation of powers, who shows an unworthy stance as one who does not measure up to the very high office he holds, and whose act of unequivocal hostility to the other Powers of the Republic translates into a sinister display of disdain and an unacceptable degradation of the democratic principle!”
The Justice sent the message in writing to the Folha news website. In the text, Celso de Mello further states: “The President of the Republic, whoever he may be, although he may be able to do much, he cannot do everything, because he is forbidden, under penalty of incurring a crime of responsibility, to transgress the political-legal supremacy of the Constitution and the laws of the Republic”. Crimes of responsibility are punishable by loss of office – that is, impeachment.