Carla Zambelli resigns as federal deputy

Representative Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) resigned from her mandate. The decision of the parliamentarian, who is imprisoned in Italy, was communicated this Sunday, 14th, to the Chamber, and announced by the House’s presidential advisor.

“The Chamber of Deputies informs that Representative Carla Zambelli (PL/SP) informed the General Secretariat of the Board of her resignation from her parliamentary mandate today”, informs the text.

The note also informs that, as a result of this act, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), ordered the summons of the substitute, deputy Adilson Barroso (PL-SP), to take office.

The resignation comes after opposition deputies tried to give the parliamentarian a chance to survive by rejecting, through a vote, her impeachment.

In an interview with GloboNews, Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ), PL leader in the Chamber, stated that the resignation was a joint defense strategy to avoid Zambelli’s impeachment. “The resignation will give her more possibilities to defend herself so she can be released and remain in Italy,” he said.

Also read: Zambelli must be imprisoned in Brasília if extradited by Italy

Conviction

Zambelli was sentenced by the First Panel of the STF to 10 years in prison for invading the National Justice Council (CNJ) systems and tampering with documents.

As the penalty imposed exceeds the constitutional limit of 120 days of absence, the ministers understood that the conviction entails, in itself, the loss of the parliamentary mandate, regardless of the Legislature’s deliberation.

Initially, Motta had signaled that he would approve the Supreme Court’s decision, but retreated and sent the case to the CCJ after pressure from the PL.

The CCJ recommended the impeachment with the support of deputies from the center, but, in a vote in the plenary, the Chamber of Deputies decided to maintain Zambelli’s mandate last Wednesday (10), by rejecting by 227 to 170 votes the impeachment of the parliamentarian, imprisoned in Italy since July.

During the session, allies argued that the impeachment would be excessive and would signal the Chamber’s submission to the Judiciary. Deputies also recalled that, according to the Constitution, it is up to Congress to decide on the loss of mandate in cases of criminal convictions.

On Friday (12), minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), voted to maintain the decision that determined the immediate loss of the mandate of federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) and annulled the vote of the Chamber of Deputies that had rejected the parliamentarian’s impeachment.

The First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court confirmed Minister Alexandre de Moraes’ decision hours later, unanimously. As a result, the vote by the Chamber of Deputies that had rejected the parliamentarian’s impeachment was annulled, even after her final criminal conviction.

The trial took place in the virtual plenary session of the STF. In addition to Moraes, ministers Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino and Cármen Lúcia voted to confirm the decision.

With the impasse, Motta was waiting for a response from the House’s legal advisors to define the fate of the mandate of federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) until Monday, the 15th.

In an interview with the newspaper O Globo, the president of the Chamber confirmed that he had “until Monday for a decision”, and also said that he would need to “listen to the legal department about possible measures regarding the deputy”.

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