The Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, handed President Lula this Thursday (8) the letter of departure from command of the Ministries of Justice and Public Security. He took office in February 2024, after retiring from the Supreme Court.
In his resignation letter, Lewandowski said that he was leaving the department for “personal and family reasons” and that he carried out “the duties of the position with zeal and dignity”. Behind the scenes in Brasília, the minister already said that he now “wanted to be minister to his grandchildren”, so his departure was not seen as a surprise.
Lewandowski’s departure should be published in this Friday’s edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) (9). This morning, Lewandowski participated in his last public agenda alongside the president, at the event that marked three years since the events of January 8th.
The now former minister leaves office without being able to approve the public security PEC in Congress. This is the Lula government’s main proposal in the area and foresees greater Union participation in actions to combat organized crime. Lewandowski also faced crises such as the unprecedented escape from the Federal Penitentiary of Mossoró (RN), the declaration that the police “arrest poorly”, which generated discomfort and retreat.
In an interview with Tarde BandNews, with Vitor Brown, the former secretary of public security, Colonel José Vicente evaluated Lewandowski’s management.
“The government was simply skating along during these 3 years without having effective answers for public safety. It’s not that it didn’t do anything, but it wasn’t necessary. Not enough to provide the answers that society needed.
The country is in a bad situation in terms of public safety, even compared to neighbors with worse conditions.
Our murder indicators have been falling modestly, even so, 20 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants is a scandalous rate in the eyes of the civilized world. It’s five times bigger than in Bolivia, for example.”
According to reports by reporter Túlio Amâncio, from Brasília, Ricardo Lewandowski’s departure from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security opened an internal dispute in the government over who should take charge of the department from March onwards, when the current minister’s team is due to leave office. In this scenario, one of the names most mentioned by allies of Palácio do Planalto is that of the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana. Interlocutors assess that he has attributes considered relevant to the role, such as political experience, experience in negotiating with Congress and the fact that he has already held the position of governor.
José Vicente pointed out that the possibility of Santana assuming the Ministry of Justice represents a political indication.
“The solution being considered is Camilo Santana, which would be a political solution, with more capacity for political dialogue that Lewandowski does not have.
Although he doesn’t know much about the arts of public security, Camilo Santana governed for more than 7 years in the State of Ceará, which is one of the country’s record holders for violence. So, your experience in this area was not very good. But your political experience is worth it.”
With Lewandowski’s departure, the executive secretary, Manoel Almeida, takes over the security portfolio on an interim basis.
