Disapproval of the work of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) has dropped ten points from December to now, to 28%, the second-lowest level since Datafolha began measuring the evaluation of the court's 11 justices. Meanwhile, approval remained stable, from 27% to 29%.
Since that last survey, in which disapproval had reached the highest level in the historical series that began in December 2019, the court has played the most acute chapter in its institutional confrontation with Bolsonaroism: the unveiling of the coup plot woven around Jair Bolsonaro (PL) after his defeat to Lula (PT) in 2022.
Based on diligences by the Federal Police authorized by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who centralizes decisions on investigations, a plot aimed at keeping Bolsonaro in power was exposed. There were arrests, and former commanders of the three branches, as well as former ministers, testified. The case, still ongoing, is by far the most rumorous and conspicuous involving the court, which over the last two decades has become accustomed to being at the center of vital decisions for the country's politics—from the mensalão to the petrolão, from Lava Jato to its deconstruction. Critics see activism in this; defenders, the necessary occupation of the vacuum left by other branches.
Perhaps not surprisingly, those who claim to be sympathizers of the PT are even more enthusiastic about the work of the Supreme Court: 49% consider it excellent or good. Among those who consider Lula's government excellent or good, the index reaches 55%. Lula himself chose the court as his preferred partner, jealous of the power of the justices' pen, in the ballet with the other branches—naming new members to the court and even the new attorney general of the Republic in tune with the strong names of the Supreme Court's plenary.