Brazilian Lawmakers Push for September 7 Protest Against Moraes

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Opposition lawmakers in Brazil have intensified efforts this week to rally the public for a demonstration on Saturday, September 7 (Brazilian Independence Day), on São Paulo’s Avenida Paulista. The protest is aimed at pressuring for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The most recent call came on Wednesday (4th), when opposition leaders also issued a manifesto against Moraes’s rulings, particularly those related to Inquiry 4781, commonly known as the “fake news inquiry”.

“We call on all Brazilians to join a peaceful protest on September 7 on Avenida Paulista to demand the restoration of democratic order. We are advocating for the immediate dismissal of investigations that have dragged on for over five years, the restoration of freedom of speech and press, amnesty for political dissidents, and the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry into abuse of authority in the Chamber of Deputies,” the lawmakers declared.

The national campaign to remove Moraes gained momentum last Friday (30th) when the justice ordered the suspension of X (formerly Twitter), affecting over 20 million users in Brazil and sparking international controversy.

With municipal elections taking up most lawmakers' attention, the opposition is relying on street protests to create a political environment conducive to Moraes’s impeachment. He is accused of abuse of power and other crimes of responsibility under Brazilian law.

In the lead-up to the Independence Day protest, opposition members have been using Congress speeches, social media, and political meetings to emphasize the importance of a large-scale demonstration, which they hope will bolster the impeachment effort, led by Senator Eduardo Girão.

In addition, lawmakers are working to promote a petition on change.org calling for Moraes’s impeachment, aiming to increase pressure on Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco. Pacheco has publicly opposed the process and is seen as a key obstacle to its advancement. Growing frustration with Pacheco’s alignment with Moraes and the Lula administration is evident in opposition statements.

The petition calling for Moraes's impeachment had surpassed 1.3 million signatures by Wednesday afternoon (4th). Senator Eduardo Girão announced that the target has been raised from 1.5 million to 2 million signatures before the Avenida Paulista rally. “This expression of popular will is crucial at this moment,” Girão emphasized. Meanwhile, opposition leaders are seeking ways to block votes in Congress in order to push forward the impeachment request in the Senate.

Manifesto Against Moraes Rulings

In the manifesto released on Wednesday, lawmakers argue that the fake news inquiry violated the “principles of due process, judicial restraint, and natural jurisdiction.” They also claim that Moraes’s rulings, described as “arbitrary and authoritarian,” threaten “freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and even the inviolability of legislative mandates, which are protected by immunity in their opinions.”

“From the beginning, this inquiry was deemed unconstitutional by the Attorney General’s Office, as it ignores fundamental principles and lacks a specific fact or determined investigation target, violating the accusatory system and constitutional guarantees. Despite the Attorney General’s stance, the inquiry has been ongoing for over five years without a clear conclusion, with secretive rulings and a proliferation of related investigations that have contaminated Brazil’s democracy,” the manifesto states.

The lawmakers argue that recent revelations by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, based on leaked messages from former advisors of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) and the Supreme Court, confirmed their concerns. According to them, the messages show that “the justice set up a structure aimed at producing reports against pre-determined targets, supporting pre-conceived rulings to impose fines and restrict rights on citizens and media outlets opposed to the current administration.”

Folha de S. Paulo revealed messages showing a deliberate intent, driven by political motives, to escalate actions against the platform X, leading to its suspension and threatening more than 200 million citizens, most of whom were uninvolved, with censorship and fines. The lawmakers describe this as an “unacceptable show of force and mass censorship,” combined with unjustified actions against businesses and individuals.

Opposition senators and deputies also criticized Attorney General Paulo Gonet for his failure to investigate alleged abuses and for the "summary dismissal of disciplinary complaints" by the National Council of Justice (CNJ).

In light of these developments, opposition lawmakers are calling on the Senate to take action, asserting that this is the “only institutional path to seek justice.” However, Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco has shown no interest in moving forward with the impeachment requests, dismissing them last month as little more than attention-seeking stunts for social media.

Petition and Legislative Obstruction

During a press conference on Wednesday, Senate opposition leader Marcos Rogério emphasized that the manifesto represents a “firm and clear stance in defense of democracy.” According to Rogério, the immediate focus is on gathering more signatures for the impeachment request against Justice Moraes, which currently has over 1.3 million supporters.

“Any legislative obstruction will only take place after the impeachment request is submitted—in defense of our freedom. We are living in a time of censorship, and when you shut down a social media platform, that’s prior restraint, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in Brazil,” Rogério stated.

The opposition confirmed that the impeachment request will be delivered to Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) on Monday afternoon (9/9).

Opposition leader Bia Kicis announced that opposition lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies are already preparing for legislative obstruction and will prioritize a series of demands, including an end to what she described as “blatant censorship.”

“We will obstruct proceedings in the Chamber and unite for the amnesty of political dissidents and the end of censorship in Brazil. The plan is to block everything until we get our priorities addressed and until Moraes’s impeachment is admitted,” Kicis declared.

Kicis also criticized Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco for failing to advance impeachment requests against Supreme Court justices. “He [Pacheco] has acted as the enabler of Moraes’s irresponsible and tyrannical actions,” she said.