Antonio Anastasia

Antonio Augusto Anastasia
Justice of the Federal Court of Accounts
Assumed office
3 February 2022
Nominated byBrazilian Senate
Appointed byJair Bolsonaro
Preceded byRaimundo Carreiro
Senator for Minas Gerais
In office
1 February 2015 – 2 February 2022
First Vice President of the Senate
In office
6 February 2019 – 2 February 2021
PresidentDavi Alcolumbre
Preceded byCássio Cunha Lima
Succeeded byVeneziano Vital do Rêgo
Governor of Minas Gerais
In office
31 March 2010 – 4 April 2014
Vice GovernorAlberto Pinto Coelho
Preceded byAécio Neves
Succeeded byAlberto Pinto Coelho
Vice Governor of Minas Gerais
In office
1 January 2007 – 31 March 2010
GovernorAécio Neves
Preceded byClésio Andrade
Succeeded byAlberto Pinto Coelho
Minister of Labour and Federal Administration
Acting
In office
31 March 1998 – 6 April 1998
PresidentFernando Henrique
Preceded byPaulo de Tarso
Succeeded byEdward Swaeden
Personal details
Born (1961-05-09) 9 May 1961 (age 63)
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Political partyPSD (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations
PSDB (2005–2020)
Alma materFederal University of Minas Gerais (LL.B.)

Antonio Augusto Junho Anastasia (born 9 May 1961) is a Brazilian lawyer and politician, affiliated to the Social Democratic Party. He graduated with a bachelor's and later a master's from the Federal University of Minas Gerais's Law School. [1]

He started his career in academia, working as a Law professor in the Milton Campos Law School and in the João Pinheiro Foundation. In 1993, he was approved in a competitive examination from his alma mater, UFMG, and was invested as a tenured Administrative Law professor. However, since 1988, Anastasia was involved with politics serving as an advisor to state deputy Bonifácio Mourão during the period the State Legislative Assembly worked as a Constitutional Assembly, after the end of Brazil's 20-year old Military Dictatorship.[2]

During the administration of governor Hélio Garcia (1991-1994) he occupied several administrative posts, such as deputy-secretary of Planning and General Coordination, secretary of Culture, secretary of Human Resources and Management, and president of the João Pinheiro Foundation. From 1995 to 1998, he served as the deputy-minister of Labor in the administration of president Fernando Henrique Cardoso.[3]

He was invited by then governor Aécio Neves to replace Clésio Andrade as his running mate for the 2006 election. Therefore, Anastasia served as vice governor of Minas Gerais from 2007 to 2010. In March 2010, Neves resigned to run for the Senate and Anastasia assumed the office of governor, serving the remainder of his predecessor's term.[4] From 2011, Anastasia served as the elected governor of the state of Minas Gerais, a post he kept up to March 2014, when following his predecessor's example he resigned to run for the Senate.[5]

After an unsuccessful campaign to be elected governor again in 2018, Anastasia kept his seat in the Senate. In 2019, he was picked by his peers to be the first vice president of the Senate for the biennium 2019-2020.[6]

Anastasia announced he would disaffiliate with the PSDB and join the similarly named PSD in an effort to distance himself from his patron and former running mate Aécio Neves, involved in corruption scandals.[7] That move would disqualify him were he a federal deputy, but as elections for the Senate are not proportional to the share of votes received by each party he was allowed to keep his seat.[8]

On 30 November 2021, Justice Raimundo Carreiro's appointment as Brazil's new ambassador to Portugal was approved by the Senate, leaving a life-tenured vacancy at the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) to be filled by the nomination of the Senate.[9] Anastasia, supported by the President of the Senate Rodrigo Pacheco and his party PSD, presented his candidacy to substitute the retired justice at the TCU. Senators Kátia Abreu and Fernando Bezerra Coelho also presented their candidacies. The first vote in the upper house gave Anastasia a comfortable win, with 52 out of 81 votes going for him. Abreu received 19 votes and Bezerra only seven. The confirmation vote in the Chamber of Deputies was won easily with 322 votes supporting Anastasia's nomination, with only 18 votes against and 8 abstentions. Anastasia's appointment to TCU by president Jair Bolsonaro was published in Brazil's official gazette on 1 February 2022, simultaneously to the retirement of Anastasia's predecessor Raimundo Carreiro.[10] Anastasia took office two days later.[11]

  1. ^ "Perfil Pessoal". Brazilian Federal Senate. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Biografia". Personal Web Page. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Biografia". Personal Web Page. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Anastasia assume governo de Minas no lugar de Aécio". G1. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Anastasia anuncia que deixa governo para cuidar da campanha de Aécio". G1. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Anastasia é eleito 1º vice-presidente do Senado". Diário do Comércio. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Anastasia vai sair do PSDB e se filiar ao PSD em até três meses, diz aliado". Congresso em Foco. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Alteração partidária não afeta mandato majoritário, como o dos senadores". Agência Senado. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Senado aprova Raimundo Carreiro para embaixada em Portugal". Agência Senado. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Nomeação de Anastasia ao TCU é publicada; Carreiro é oficialmente aposentado". 1 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Antônio Anastasia toma posse como ministro do TCU". TCU. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.