Casares makes emotional plea in final chance to fight impeachment | OneFootball

In his last attempt to remain president of São Paulo before the vote on his impeachment, which takes place this Friday (16), Julio Casares tried to appeal to emotion.

The tricolor leader was given 30 minutes to speak before the voting began to argue his defense.

Casares delivered an extremely emotional speech at the Council's podium. He said he is being threatened, reported threats to his family members, and spoke of the virtual lynching he is suffering.

The president also recalled that he has been attending the Morumbi stands since he was a child and that many of the councilors know him personally and are aware of his character.

In response to the accusations of corruption he faces, the leader stated that there is no concrete evidence against him, that he has not yet been indicted, was the victim of a selective leak motivated by political issues, and that he will prove his innocence.

After the voting began, Casares left the main hall and went to his office, still surrounded by security and his lawyers, the only ones who stood by his side during his presence at the Council.

On the opposition side, three councilors who signed the impeachment petition shared the floor and spoke for ten minutes each: Caio Forjaz, Flávio Marques, and Marcelinho Portugal Gouvêa.

The result of the vote will be officially announced at 10:30 p.m. (Brasília time).

THE PROCESS

Julio Casares suffered his first defeat in the vote on his impeachment, which is taking place on the night of this Friday (16), at Morumbi.

The minimum quorum for the proceeding, 191 councilors, was reached. In total, 223 members of the body are present (including those who will vote virtually).

According to the report, there are 168 councilors present in person and 55 online.

Judge Mônica Rodrigues Doas de Carvalho, from the 1st Chamber of Private Law of the São Paulo Court of Justice, rejected on Wednesday morning (14) the appeal filed by São Paulo against a previous favorable decision that reestablished the minimum quorum for the impeachment vote of the president, in addition to establishing the hybrid model between in-person and virtual voting.

In the judge's view, there is no reason to change what was previously determined.

“Initially, although the issue of minimum quorum has been discussed, I note that the accepted decision has already admitted that the meeting should observe, for its start, the minimum presence defended by the appellant. I emphasize that there was no determination regarding the deliberation quorum, but only regarding the minimum presence for opening the meeting, so it is not appropriate to address this issue at this time. Furthermore, with due respect, I did not see which regulatory provision prohibits the electronic participation of councilors,” says an excerpt from the decision.

An injunction issued by Judge Luciane Cristina Silva Tavares, from the 3rd Civil Court of Butantã, at the beginning of the week, had changed the ‘rule’ for impeachment, annulling the decision of the president of the body, Olten Ayres de Abreu, and returning to the rule of opening the process of Casares’ removal with only 171 favorable votes, in addition to allowing the extraordinary meeting to be held in a hybrid manner.

The lawsuit was filed by lawyer Amanda Nunes and was brought by councilors Caio Forjaz, Daniel Dinis Fonseca, Fabio Machado, José Medicis, José Carlos Ferreira Alves, Kalef João Francisco Neto, Marcelo Portugal Gouvêa, Miguel de Sousa, and Waldo Jose Valim Braga.

The assessment is that several councilors who would vote in favor of Casares’ removal would not be able to attend Friday’s meeting because they are traveling or on vacation.

The judge responsible for the decision also sees no conflict between articles 58 and 112 of São Paulo’s Social Statute. She states that a 75% quorum (191 councilors) is required for the meeting to be held, but only two-thirds of votes in favor of impeachment are needed for Casares to be removed from the presidency.

“Observing both statutory provisions, it is clear that art. 58, §2 establishes the quorum for voting, that is, the minimum number of councilors present, while art. 112 provides the number of votes necessary for the removal of the President. Thus, the second notice is correct, which provides for a minimum quorum of 75% of the members of the Council for the meeting whose objective is to deliberate on the removal of the President of the Board,” writes the judge in her ruling.

Last week, Abreu had rejected the request filed by the opposition for the vote to be held in a hybrid manner. That is, both in person and virtually, on the grounds of increasing the participation of body members and reducing risks related to the external environment and public outcry.

In the meeting’s call notice, Abreu claims that the in-person format guarantees “the maximum irrefutability of the secret vote, protecting the autonomy of the voting councilor.”

Furthermore, he justifies that given the importance of the matter, in-person voting “is essential for legal security and the unquestionable legitimacy of the final decision.”

But that was not the only measure taken by Abreu, let’s say, more benevolent to the president. Earlier, he gave a favorable opinion to a request made by Casares himself, to change the necessary quorum of votes to open the impeachment process.

In his ruling, the president of the Council acknowledged the existence of a statutory controversy, since different items of the document provide for different percentages for the approval of the removal.

But, according to him, the understanding is that, given the seriousness of the accusations that led to the vote, the interpretation most favorable to the accused prevails.

With the change, the minimum number of votes in favor of impeachment had risen from 171 to 191, that is, 75% of the Council.

The first step for opening the removal process happens after a formal request from opposition councilors to the current tricolor administration, who gathered the 57 signatures necessary to initiate the removal of the leader, according to the club’s Statute, at the end of December.

With this approval, the president would already be removed from office, with the São Paulo vice president, Harry Massis Júnior, taking over the position.

Even so, however, for the removal process to be completed, Casares will still undergo a review at a general assembly with all paying members of the social club. A simple majority vote would seal the leader’s departure.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.