Impeachment vote: opposition claims 202, Casares needs 26 | OneFootball

An informal count of the São Paulo board members' stance on the impeachment vote of President Julio Casares, which takes place this Friday (16), indicates that the crucial number for the São Paulo leader to know his future is 26.

According to an investigation by partner ANOTAÇÕES TRICOLORES, 145 of the 254 club board members eligible to vote have already expressed support for the leader's removal.

In theory, this means 26 more favorable votes are needed for São Paulo's main body to officially remove Casares.

And for the hopefuls, the math is relatively simple. Nine board members tend to reject the impeachment. One is barred, Marco Aurélio Cunha, who must serve a 90-day waiting period for returning to the board just last month. With the judicial decision allowing hybrid voting (virtually and in-person), no board members will miss voting due to absence.

The president's future depends on the 100 remaining board members whose votes are unknown. Many of them are former members of Casares' coalition, members of political groups that supported the administration but have not yet publicly expressed their decision for Friday.

It's important to note that, as the vote will be secret, this is merely an exercise in reasoning. Many previously loyal to Casares who recently announced their support for impeachment might backtrack at the last moment.

Even so, the opposition base of the board members presents worrying numbers for Casares. According to them, there are already 202 guaranteed votes in favor of the leader's removal. There is much speculation behind the scenes that the São Paulo president will resign to avoid losing political power within the club, but this information was not confirmed by the time of this report's publication.

THE PROCESS

The start of the vote to open the impeachment process against Casares is scheduled for 6:30 PM (Brasília time) this Friday.

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 reinstated the minimum quorum for voting on the president's impeachment, as well as establishing a hybrid model between in-person and virtual voting.

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

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

An injunction issued by Judge Luciane Cristina Silva Tavares, from the 3rd Civil Court of Butantã, earlier in the week, had changed the 'rule' for impeachment, nullifying the decision of the body's president, Olten Ayres de Abreu, and reverting the rule to open 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 legal action was filed by lawyer Amanda Nunes and was initiated by board members 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 board members with a favorable vote for Casares' removal could not be present at the Friday meeting due to travel or vacations.

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

“Observing both statutory provisions, it is noted that art. 58, §2º establishes the quorum for voting, that is, the minimum number of board members present, while art. 112 provides the number of votes necessary for the President's removal. Thus, the second notice is correct, which provides for a minimum quorum of 75% of the Council members for the Meeting aimed at deliberating the President's removal,” writes the judge in her ruling.

Last week, Abreu had rejected the opposition's request for the vote to be conducted in a hybrid manner. That is, both in-person and virtually, arguing that it would increase the participation of body members and reduce risks related to the external environment and public outcry.

In the meeting's call notice, Abreu argues that the in-person format ensures “the maximum irrefutability of the secret vote, protecting the autonomy of the voting board member.”

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 it was not the only measure taken by Abreu, let's say, more lenient towards the president. Earlier, he gave a favorable opinion on a request made by Casares himself, to change the necessary quorum of votes for opening the impeachment.

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

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

With the change, the minimum number of favorable votes for impeachment had risen from 171 to 191, or 75% of the Council.

The first step for opening the removal process occurs after a formal request by opposition board members to the current tricolor administration, who gathered the 57 signatures necessary to initiate the leader's removal, as per the club's Statute, at the end of December.

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

Nonetheless, for the removal process to be completed, Casares will still undergo an evaluation in a general assembly with all the club's compliant members. 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.