Unicamp's rector, Professor Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, participated, on the morning of this Wednesday (5), in the ceremony honoring the 190th anniversary of the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo (Alesp), considered the largest state legislative house in Latin America. Held in the Simon Bolívar Auditorium of the Memorial da América Latina, in the capital of São Paulo, the celebration brought together 2.400 guests, including public managers, parliamentarians, representatives of the Judiciary and state authorities.
The solemn session that marked the creation of the assembly took place on February 2, 1835. At the time, there were a total of 36 deputies. Nicolau Pereira de Campos Vergueiro was elected president of the body. Currently, Alesp has 94 parliamentarians.
“In addition to valuing this moment of homage to the democratic structures of power in our State, I would like to highlight the importance of this approach for the development of our activities. If we want to increase our impact on the economic and social development of our region, our State and our country, collaboration with the Legislative Branch is essential,” said the rector.
“Without this, initiatives such as the admission of new students to Unicamp via Provão Paulista, the meteorological radar and especially our healthcare assistance activities in the Campinas region and nearby regions would not be as successful,” he argued.
“A large part of this success is certainly due to maintaining university autonomy and stable funding for the three state universities for 35 years.”
The ceremony was also attended by the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, who praised the role of Alesp in defending democracy. “This is an institution that works,” said the leader. “A place that deals well with divergence and knows how to build convergence.”
The governor recalled that the deputies from São Paulo represent 44 million people, equivalent to 22% of the total Brazilian population. “And that is no small feat,” he concluded.
Judge Fernando Torres Garcia, president of the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJSP), recalled that Alesp suffered from invasions, closures and revocations during the periods of dictatorial regime, but, as he emphasized, it always managed to reestablish itself.
The current president of the body, deputy André do Prado, reaffirmed the representative nature of the assembly. “This is the people’s house,” he repeated three times. “This is the legitimate representation of our diversity.”
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of São Paulo initially operated in a building located in Pátio do Colégio. In 1879, the body moved to Largo de São Gonçalo, near the current Praça João Mendes. In the late 1940s, the assembly moved to the old Palácio das Indústrias and, on January 25, 1968, to the Palácio 9 de Julho, located in Ibirapuera Park.
