On the same day that Brazil has more than 4,000 daily deaths due to COVID-19 for the second time, the Federal Supreme Court (STF in the acronym in Portuguese) determined that the Senate establish an investigation committee to verify possible omissions by the federal government in the fight against the pandemic.
The start of an investigation committee exacerbates the political wear and tear that President Jair Bolsonaro has faced with Congress and the financial market.
The request for an investigation committee was made in early February, but Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco had yet to determine the start of the investigation. Faced with the delay, senators called the supreme court to speed up the process.
The STF decision states that the requirements for a “COVID-19 investigation committee”, as the commission is being called, have been met, with the signature of a third of the senators, an indication of what should be investigated and a deadline for the investigation.
Pacheco told G1 that he was warned that the Supreme Court would order the investigation committee to start, but preferred to wait for the official decision of the supreme court. Pacheco had already stated that he considers the committee “inopportune” and that such an investigation, at that moment, would hinder the fight against the pandemic.
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President Jair Bolsonaro reacted to the STF’s decision. This Friday morning, Bolsonaro criticized Minister Luís Roberto Barroso and stated that the minister is doing “judicial activism”.
Second day with more than 4,000 deaths
On Thursday (8), Brazil had 4,190 thousand deaths due to COVID-19, the second-worst day of the pandemic. As a result, the country reached 345,287 thousand deaths due to COVID-19.
