Benedito Mendonça
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The national president of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Roberto Busato, delivered a request to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, asking that the Council of the Republic be convened immediately, "as a highly valuable measure in light of the current political situation."

"The Council of the Republic is a State institution that was created precisely to advise the President in times of crisis. The time of crisis is at hand, and President Lula himself recognizes that a serious institutional crisis exists in the country," Busato affirmed in a note released to the press by the OAB. He emphasized that the Council of the Republic is the proper organ to advise the President of the Republic "whenever relevant issues for the stability of democratic institutions arise," as defined in Article 90 of the Federal Constitution.

In proposing that President Lula summon the Council of the Republic to help him solve the current crisis, Busato transcribes in the note the declaration made by Lula when he participated in the ceremony to instate the new OAB board, on April 28, 2004: "When the councillors perceive that there is a relevant issue to discuss in the country, and the president does not take the initiative to summon them, they should request him to convene the Council."

The Council of the Republic is an organ for which provision is made in the Federal Constitution. It is convened exclusively by the President of the Republic, and one of its functions is "to make official statements on relevant issues for the stability of democratic institutions."

Translation: David Silberstein