SAO PAULO (AP) – A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Thursday ordered the Senate to investigate the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, and the full court ruled that the reopening of churches during the pandemic could be banned, increasing tensions between President Jair. Bolsonaro will come under further pressure. and the judiciary.
Judge Luis Roberto Barroso’s order for a senate inquiry came just minutes after the entire court reaffirmed the power of the local authorities to prevent churches and other places of worship from opening.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, arguing that the economic and emotional consequences of a shutdown would harm more Brazilians than the pandemic. He has at times grappled with the checks and balances of other branches of government, and has repeatedly criticized the Supreme Court for upholding the power of governors and mayors to restrict economic and personal activities during the pandemic. Last year he attended protests against the court.
The conservative president, a proud Christian who has the backing of some of the country’s foremost evangelical leaders, has opposed locally imposed lockdowns and other restrictions that health experts say were badly needed to stop the spread of the virus. In recent weeks, Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic crisis, accounting for more than a quarter of the world’s deaths from COVID-19.
The investigation will call on scientists from all over Brazil to testify and show how irresponsible the president’s statements were. It will be more difficult for him. Public opinion will be heard in the Senate, ”said Carlos Melo, professor of political science at Insper University in Sao Paulo. It was inevitable. It was time for the political system to respond. “
As the death toll in the country soars – three senators are among the 345,000 dead – more than the required 27 senators had already signed a request for a congressional inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic, but to move forward it needed approval from the president of the chamber, Sen. Rodrigo Pacheco. Pacheco, who won his leadership post in January with Bolsonaro’s support, had refrained from starting the probe.
‘It was not the time. That’s what I think, ”Pacheco told reporters in Brasilia after the judge’s order. “This research will be out of bounds at the moment. It could crown national failure in this pandemic. “
Pacheco said an investigation will inevitably drag on the 2022 presidential race in which Bolsonaro is expected to seek reelection, giving opposition senators a platform to attack the leader and possibly charge him with committing crimes.
The Senate needs to review how the government dealt with the COVID-19 crisis and could issue new criticisms of Bolsonaro. If senators decide there is something criminal in the response, the senate should ask the federal attorney general to open its own investigation.
The ruling on places of worship does not stop local authorities from reopening churches, and some have already done so.
But the court acted after Judge Kassio Marques, the only Bolsonaro-appointed member of the court, allowed churches across Brazil to reopen on Saturday, provided they followed health protocols. Many churches opened on Easter Sunday, some without regard to social distance.
Marques was outvoted by his colleagues in a 9-2 vote that culminated on Thursday.
Justice Gilmar Mendes said in his vote that Brazil has become “an international health pariah”.
“Brazil, which was once a public health role model in immunization campaigns, is in this very embarrassing situation today,” he said.