RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Senators Fabiano Contarato (Rede-ES) and Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) will submit a motion for the impeachment of the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, on Thursday, August 22nd, to the Federal Supreme Court.
According to the senators, the minister has committed a crime of responsibility in his decisions in office, in addition to activities that are incompatible with the position, i.e. by persecuting public officials. The minister was asked to comment on the matter but has not yet responded.
Fabiano Contarato is a Brazilian law professor, police chief, and politician affiliated to the Sustainability Network Rede. He was the most voted Senate candidate in the state of Espírito Santo during the 2018 Brazilian general election, with over one million votes. It was the first time he ran for an electoral post. Contarato is the first openly LGBT person to be elected for the Brazilian Senate. His win unseated Magno Malta, a conservative evangelical pastor, and far-right ally of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
The Sustainability Network (Rede Sustentabilidade, REDE) is a Brazilian political party founded in 2013 by Marina Silva, a Brazilian politician from Acre state.
The party formed a strategic alliance with the Brazilian Socialist Party for the 2014 Brazilian general election, until its registration as an independent political party was approved in 2015.
The Sustainability Network had 19,090 members as of January 2017. For the Brazilian general election of 2018, REDE joined the Green Party in the election coalition United to Transform Brazil, in support of Marina Silva.