Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the current president of the country, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), were not the only ones to comment on the Supreme Federal Court's (STF) decision to remove the director-general of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues. The Novo candidate for President, Romeu Zema, also spoke about the topic on Tuesday, stating that the measure taken by Minister André Mendonça was correct.
Zema, who is a former governor of Minas Gerais, defended that Andrei Rodrigues should have stepped aside from the investigation even before the judicial determination. The candidate participated in an event organized by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert), where he made the statements.
During the event, Zema directly criticized the Federal Police director, stating that he did not demonstrate the necessary impartiality to conduct the investigations. The Novo candidate recalled that Andrei Rodrigues was seen taking whiskey with banker Vorcaro (Vorcaro), who is the subject of an investigation, and questioned how the same person could conduct the case without compromising impartiality.
Earlier, André Mendonça had ordered the preventive removal of Andrei Rodrigues following an action by the Novo party itself, the party through which Zema is running for the presidential palace. The candidate stated that in any serious country, the person would step aside from the investigation to ensure the integrity of the process.
