Brasilia, November 28 (RHC)-- The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, sent this Monday to the president of the Federal Senate, the candidacies of Flávio Dino for the position of Supreme Court Justice and Paulo Gonet, for the position of attorney general.

The proposals, which must be validated by the Upper House of the Senate, have generated controversy among the Brazilian left-wing sector, mainly among activists who asked the president to propose a black woman, in order to see represented a sector that has never climbed to that sphere.

However, Lula said that his criteria would not be based on race or sex, but on someone who could vote "properly", a person capable of shaking off media pressures and making a fair judgment.

If the proposal materializes, the Supreme Court would then be made up of ten men and only one woman. The president of the Federal Senate said that before the end of the year the proposed candidates should be voted on.

Flávio Dino is the current Minister of Justice and Public Security, has a law degree, was a senator of the Republic, governor of Maranhão, as well as federal judge of the First Region and president of the Association of Federal Judges of Brazil from 2000 to 2002.

Paulo Gonet, on the other hand, is also a law graduate, founder of the Instituto Brasiliense de Direito Público (Brazilian Institute of Public Law), and has worked at the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office since 1987 as deputy attorney general. Both are highly experienced jurists.