Brazil’s Senate rejects nomination of Lula’s solicitor general for Supreme Court seat

BRASILIA, April 29 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Solicitor General Jorge Messias for an open seat on the Supreme Court, making President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva the first leader in more than a century to have a top court nominee rejected by Congress.

The chamber rejected Lula’s nomination in a 42-34 vote, as backing from at least 41 of Brazil’s 81 senators was required.

Lula’s government in recent months assembled an unprecedented lobbying effort to try to secure Messias’ approval, after lawmakers initially reacted negatively to his November nomination by the leftist leader.

The choice had particularly angered Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, who pushed for a different person to replace Luis Roberto Barroso after the former justice stepped down about eight years ahead of the deadline for his mandatory retirement.

Messias, 46, has worked for nearly two decades in Brazil’s office of the solicitor general and has run the institution since the beginning of Lula’s current term in 2023.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Fernando Cardoso and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Franklin Paul)