At odds with Bolsonaro, Brazil’s star justice minister steps down
Brazil’s popular Justice Minister Sergio Moro said on Friday that he had stepped down due to differences of opinion with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
The move came after Bolsonaro sacked the head of the country’s federal police force. Upon announcing his resignation, Moro said there was no way he could ensure the independence of the police under Bolsonaro.
The populist president rejected allegations that he tried to exert political influence over the federal police. Claims of his knowledge of running investigations were “insinuations” and “untrue,” Bolsonaro asserted in a speech in the capital Brasilia Friday evening.
He stressed that he had decided to sack the head of the federal police months ago. “As President, I don’t have to ask anyone for permission to replace the head of the federal police,” Bolsonaro said.
Moro – a polarizing figure who is a hero to many on the right of Brazil’s political landscape – was brought into the cabinet shortly after the election in 2018. The appointment was considered a coup for Bolsonaro.
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The former justice minister led the so-called “Car Wash” corruption investigation, one of the largest in the history of Latin America, and was instrumental in jailing former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the 2018 election.
His departure only a week after the president sacked popular health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta deals a blow to Bolsonaro, who is currently dealing with a severe outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country. (dpa)
