Brasilia: Brazil's Senate yesterday confirmed President Michel Temer's justice minister to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, a controversial appointment due to the number of cabinet ministers and ruling party leaders facing corruption allegations.
Alexandre Moraes, a 49-year-old lawyer, law professor and former public security secretary of Sao Paulo state, vowed to remain "absolutely impartial" when judging any corruption cases involving his former cabinet colleagues or Temer himself. Moraes was approved on a 55-to-13 vote.
Leftist senators slammed his appointment as a move to protect Temer's government from the sprawling "Car Wash" kickback probe that threatens to implicate a large swath of Brazil's political establishment.
Six members of Temer's cabinet as well as the president himself have been named in plea bargain testimony by defendants in Brazil's biggest corruption scandal, and many of the ministers could end up on trial.
Moraes declined to say if he would recuse himself if the Supreme Court eventually judges a case involving allegedly illegal campaign funding of the successful 2014 presidential campaign ticket, when Temer was the vice president to the now-impeached President Dilma Rousseff.
Critics say he should recuse himself in any cases that comebefore the Supreme Court, given his extremely close ties to the people who may be put on trial before the court. Moraes was ambiguous when asked about possible changes to a law that states Brazil's federal congress, members of the executive branch and thousands of officials can only be tried by Supreme Court.
