Zema criticizes Supreme Court, rules out Caixa privatization - Valor International

Brazilian presidential candidate Romeu Zema of the Novo party said Brasília has been taken over by “quid pro quo” politics and “mercenaries,” and reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court (STF), saying some justices have turned the court into a “marketplace,” without naming them. During a forum hosted by Valor, O Globo and CBN radio on Tuesday (25), the presidential candidate also ruled out privatizing Caixa Econômica Federal if elected.

Over the course of an hour and a half, Zema defended his record as governor of Minas Gerais (2019-2026), singled out President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party, PT) as his main target and said he has more experience than Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, PL), who leads the field among opposition candidates.

Speaking about the growing role of congressional earmarks in the budget, the candidate said Brasília “has become a quid pro quo operation in recent years.” “They're simply mercenaries. It seems to have stopped being politics, which is why Brazil is in this situation,” he said. According to Zema, if he reaches the Planalto Palace, one strategy for persuading lawmakers to invest in the government’s priority projects would be to double the amount of funding. For every R$1 allocated through an earmark to an initiative, the government would add another R$1.

Zema, whose criticism of the STF is one of his political platforms, said the Judiciary “is being used to do politics” and that “biased investigations” must end. He was asked about investigations involving former banker Daniel Vorcaro, founder of the now-defunct Banco Master, as well as cases involving his adversaries Lula and Flávio. He said he “takes nothing back” regarding his statements about STF justices and recalled the defamation lawsuit filed against him by Justice Gilmar Mendes over a puppet satire portraying members of the court as “untouchables.” “Did I commit a crime?” he asked.

“We have to remember that there is wheat and there is chaff at the Supreme Court. There are people there who I think most Brazilians trust, and there are people who have used the Supreme Court to do business. For some justices, that place has become a marketplace,” he said.

Alluding to situations involving justices Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli and Mendes, the former governor said he would not name names when describing problems at the court, but would “talk about the miracles.”

“I don’t know whether any Brazilian has managed to get a R$129 million contract for a spouse. I don’t know whether an ordinary Brazilian, like me, like most of those watching us, has managed to make a R$35 million transaction involving the [resort] Tayayá. Or whether another Brazilian who holds conferences and so on gets millions in sponsorship from a criminal banker, has a jet available for a ride, or is invited to taste the world’s most expensive whiskey,” he said.

“Those who did this, in any civilized country, would already have been expelled. They would be in an untenable position. And our permissiveness here, or impunity, has allowed this to continue. And I want to fight this with all my strength. We need a more transparent public sector,” he added.

The candidate said that, if elected, he would encourage investigations into “everything” and again stressed that his name had not been implicated in the Banco Master scandal, even though Vorcaro lives in Minas Gerais. “I received nothing,” he said. He also said he had instructed his successor as governor of Minas Gerais, Mateus Simões (Social Democratic Party, PSD), to investigate allegations that emerged involving Cemig, the state-owned power company, and Vorcaro. “I don’t want anyone to be protected. I want a thorough investigation into everything, investigation and punishment.”

Zema defended privatizing most state-owned companies, including Petrobras, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and Banco do Brasil, but for the first time cited Caixa and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) as exceptions. He said Caixa would be excluded because of its social assistance role. Zema, who previously advocated “privatizing everything,” said transferring companies to the private sector would reduce their exposure to corruption cases.

The Novo candidate repeatedly criticized the government’s fiscal policy, which he linked to the rise in the benchmark interest rate, and reiterated his support for spending cuts and a leaner state.

He said that, if he wins, he plans to create an alternative employment regime to the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) and argued that workers should have more contracting options. He supports discussing a model based on hourly pay. “Why, when it comes to working, are you required to have only CLT? When it comes to getting married, you can have more options,” Zema said.

The candidate also said he plans to make registration as an individual microentrepreneur (MEI) mandatory for app-based drivers. According to Zema, this would be a way to increase the formalization of these workers. “Every app driver, as many already do, will at least [have to] be an MEI,” he said.

The presidential candidate also proposed changes to the pension system and said a “sustainable” model is necessary. “The problem in Brazil today is this: this generation entering the labor market, if we don’t have a sustainable pension system, perhaps they won’t have money to receive down the road, those who are just starting now,” the former governor said.

He said one of the issues undermining the sustainability of the pension system is its linkage to the minimum wage. “Every economist we’ve heard on the campaign trail and also on fiscal adjustment says we need to change the rule for adjusting the minimum wage,” he said, promising to grant “at least inflation” when adjusting the minimum wage if he becomes president.

“What I want is for the current system to remain and for an actuarial calculation to be carried out and, as life expectancy increases, [for] the appropriate adjustment to be made. That’s all. And we will never again need to talk about pension reform,” he added.

“I want to make it clear here that no retiree will go through what I saw in Minas. There, people weren’t receiving their retirement benefits. That’s what the PT brought to Minas,” he said, referring to the legacy of the administration of Fernando Pimentel (PT). Zema seeks to present himself as someone experienced in fixing problems left by the party and called himself a fiscal “adjustment specialist” when discussing his record as governor.

Zema also said tax incentives for the Manaus Free Trade Zone should be reviewed to establish a time limit and gradually reduce the benefits. “I favor incentives for regions that need them, but always with a time limit, a phaseout,” he said, comparing the situation to raising children. “I don’t think it’s normal for a 45-year-old man to be receiving an allowance.” The former governor said there should be a schedule for reducing the incentives. “Those who need help have to receive it, but they have to find independence and autonomy over time,” he said.

Zema opened the interview by defending his fiscal management as governor of Minas Gerais. He attributed the increase in the state’s debt to the federal government to high interest rates and said the country needs to review its federal arrangement.

“If Minas’ debt is not given special treatment, it is unpayable. The state’s revenue is not growing at the speed of [interest rates],” he said. “I took over the state with an R$11 billion deficit and, after two years, delivered five surpluses.” Zema said that during his administration he prioritized paying bills inherited from the Pimentel administration and overdue public-sector salaries, paying R$23 billion in debts and R$13 billion to the federal government. He said that, as president, he would create an effort like the Program for Full Payment of State Debts (Propag), which benefited Minas.

“People talk a lot [about how] the debt to the federal government was this much and now it’s this much. But nobody talks about the fact that I paid retirees, public employees, mayors, and the Court of Justice. Employees in Minas weren’t receiving their 13th-month salary. Was it fair for me to pay the federal government while a retiree in Minas went without her retirement benefits?” he said.

If elected president, Zema said he plans to work to reduce the benchmark interest rate, currently at 14%, to 6%, and indicated that the decline could come from signaling fiscal responsibility. “This was done 10 years ago, with President [Michel] Temer’s spending cap. When a responsible government comes in, the market prices it in,” he said, linking interest rates to household debt and the number of companies entering judicial reorganization.

Wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “enough with betting,” Zema said he plans to restrict lotteries that rely exclusively on online sports betting, known as bets. “If it [the lottery] is currently depending solely on bets, it will cease to exist,” he said, describing gambling addiction as “worse than cocaine.” Asked whether congressional approval would be required to impose the ban, he said that, if he cannot secure lawmakers’ support for the measure, he would at least seek to impose stricter restrictions.

Asked about the Minas Gerais State Lottery (Lemg), which received a concession during his term as governor, Zema argued that the federal government authorized state lotteries to operate in Minas Gerais. According to him, his administration merely followed the rules established by the federal government.

Speaking about public security, Zema said the government needs to “reclaim territories” lost to criminal organizations and denied that he intends to “copy” the policies adopted in El Salvador by President Nayib Bukele, who has faced allegations of human rights violations in that country.

“What I want here in Brazil is not a copy of El Salvador, no. What I want in Brazil is to reclaim territories. Let it be very clear: when you reclaim territories occupied by crime, first of all, people’s lives improve tremendously, extortion ends,” the former governor said.

Zema, who visited El Salvador to learn about its prison system and understand how the country reduced crime rates, again denied that he would implement measures conflicting with Brazil’s Constitution, such as detention without a warrant, extended detention without a judicial order, and collective trials. However, he said Brazil needs to “change some things” in its legislation to toughen punishments.

“Someone who has committed a crime for the third time should no longer be released at a custody hearing. Would that be violating a human right?” the presidential candidate said. “The Military Police is losing credibility in every state in Brazil: it arrests people, the Judiciary releases them.”

Zema denied that he had toned down his criticism of Flávio because of pressure from Novo members who were upset by his attacks on the senator because of their identification with Bolsonarism and party alliances with the PL. The candidate reiterated his support for investigations into the financing of “Dark Horse,” a biographical film about former president Jair Bolsonaro. When conversations between Flávio and Vorcaro about donations from the former banker allegedly to finance the production became public, Zema said the conduct was “unforgivable” and “a slap in the face of decent Brazilians.”

Asked to compare his attributes with those of his rival, Zema said he differs from the senator because he has experience governing a state such as Minas Gerais, while the senator has only served as a lawmaker. “We have some differences. First: I’m an entrepreneur. I’ve never depended on the state, thank God. Second: I was a governor, and, as far as I know, he has only been a lawmaker to this day. And [I was] governor of a state that is the most heterogeneous in Brazil, 21 million inhabitants, 853 municipalities,” the former governor said.

In addition to their different résumés, Zema said he comes “from the real world” and that this helps him understand how Brazilians think. “I’ve never been a recipient of taxes. I’ve always been a taxpayer,” he said, referring to his career as a businessman before entering politics.

Explaining his absence from the first presidential debate held on Sunday (23), Zema reiterated that he did not attend the Band debate because Lula would not be there. His withdrawal was announced hours before the event. He said his target is the incumbent president, whom he considers responsible for the problems he has been criticizing, and that his presence would only have made sense if he could have asked the incumbent questions.

“The two main ones [Lula and Flávio] didn’t go, and then we saw [that] it was considered a debate that wasn’t very good. And the main one, for me, is the president. I didn’t go because the president didn’t go, and he was the one I wanted to direct my questions to.”

In a conversation with journalists after the Valor, O Globo, and CBN forum, Zema responded to criticism from one of Novo’s founders, banker João Amoêdo. On Monday (24), after the former Minas Gerais governor appeared on TV Globo’s Jornal Nacional primetime news broadcast, Amoêdo posted on social media that Novo had “become so bad that today not showing up is the best thing” for the party. The founder left the party amid tensions after declaring his support for Lula in the 2022 runoff.

Zema said that “what he [Amoêdo] says about the party today means very little.” “Despite having the merit of building the party back then, he ended up having the demerit of trying to appropriate the party for personal purposes, and much of the party woke up to that,” the presidential candidate said.

According to a Datafolha poll released Friday (21), Zema has 3% of voter support. Lula, with 39%, and Flávio, with 33%, are ahead. The poll’s margin of error is two percentage points, either way. The first-round field is rounded out by Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), with 5%; Renan Santos (Missão), with 4%; and Augusto Cury (Avante), with 2%.

This article was translated from Valor Econômico using an artificial intelligence tool under the supervision of the Valor International editorial team to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to our editorial standards. Read our Editorial Principles.