Council of the Republic (Brazil)

Council of the Republic
Portuguese: Conselho da República
Council overview
Formed	5 June 1990; 34 years ago
Jurisdiction	Brazil
Headquarters	Palácio do Planalto
Council executive	Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chairman;
Website	www.gov.br/planalto

In Brazil, the Council of the Republic is the superior agency of consultation and counseling of the Presidency of the Republic, created to advise the president in crisis moments. Among the competences of the Council of the Republic are deliberate about subjects such as federal intervention, state of defence and state of exception.^[1]

Operation

The creation of the Council of the Republic is provided by the 1988 Constitution, Article 89.^[2] However, the Council only started working in 1990, when then President Fernando Collor de Mello signed Law no. 8041/90, which puts in force this device of the Constitution.^[3]

According to the law, the President of the Republic is responsible to summon the Council in the case of federal intervention, state of defence and exception and also on relevant issues for the stability of the democratic institutions. As an advisory body, the President is not obligated to put in practice the measures from the council's advice.^[4]

Composition

The Council of the Republic is composed by 14 members, as provided in law:

Structure of the Council of the Republic
Chairman	President
Regular attendees	Minister of Justice and Public Security President of the Chamber of Deputies President of the Federal Senate Chamber Majority Leader Chamber Minority Leader Senate Majority Leader Senate Minority Leader
Additional participants	6 Brazilian citizens by birth, over 35 years old, as 2 are nominated as permanent members by the President and 2 as a substitutes; 2 elected as permanent members by the Federal Senate and 2 as a substitutes; 2 elected as permanent members by the Chamber of Deputies and 2 as substitutes. The permanent members have a 3 years term, not renewable.

Current members

President of the Republic: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Vice President of the Republic: Geraldo Alckmin
Minister of Justice and Public Security: Ricardo Lewandowski
President of the Chamber of Deputies: Arthur Lira (PP-AL)
President of the Federal Senate: Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG)
Chamber Majority Leader: André Figueiredo (PDT-CE)
Chamber Minority Leader: Bia Kicis (PL-DF)
Senate Majority Leader: Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL)
Senate Minority Leader: Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI)
Nominated by the President:
- Amaro dos Santos, Secretary of Institutional Security
- Paulo Skaf, former president of FIESP
Nominated by the Chamber:
- Eugênio Aragão, former Minister of Justice
- José Carlos Aleluia, former federal deputy
Nominated by the Senate:
- Davi Alcolumbre, senator for Amapá
- Gilberto Kassab, former mayor of São Paulo

Council meetings

Besides the council exists since 1990, the first meeting of the Council of the Republic occurred in February 2018, during the administration of president Michel Temer (MDB). The Council convened in a joint session with the National Defence Council for the a posteriori advice on the Rio de Janeiro public security federal intervention.^[5]

In two previous situations, however, the Council almost convened:

The first was in 2005, when the Order of Attorneys of Brazil formally asked to the Presidency, then held by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), to summon the Council to deal with the political crisis created by the Mensalão scandal. According to the entity, the crisis would threaten the country's democratic institutions, one of the situations foreseen for its summoning;^[6]
The second was in 2010, when then Governor of the Federal District, José Roberto Arruda (PR), was arrested accused of obstructing the Federal Police investigations of the Mensalão scandal in the Federal District, which investigated corruption cases in the federal unit. Due to the political destabilization in the district, which had 5 different governors in the period of 12 months, the Prosecutor General of the Republic requested a federal intervention in the Federal District, other case foreseen in the Council's attributions.^[7]

2021 meeting announcement

On 7 September 2021, during manifestations in his favor in Brasília, São Paulo and other capitals, president Jair Bolsonaro announced he would convene the Council on the following day, for the purpose of "show the people's picture in the acts".

Bolsonaro gave a speech in Brasília in the beginning of the afternoon and then headed to São Paulo, where he also gave a speech. The mention to the meeting of the Council of the Republic happened during the speech in the federal capital. Bolsonaro said he would invite the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Luiz Fux, besides the justice is not member of the Council.^[4]

Tomorrow, I will convene the Council of the Republic, along with ministers, along with the President of the Chamber, the Senate and the Supreme Court, with this picture of you, I'll show them where we should all go.^[1]

In response, the Presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, and the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, reported they hadn't receive any formal invitation by the Presidency of the Republic. The President of the Supreme Court, Luiz Fux, said he would not be present, once he's not a member of the Council.^[4]

On the other hand, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said Bolsonaro was wrong when mentioning the meeting.^[8]