Roundup: Brazilian Supreme Court advised against approving Lula's appointment

Brazil's prosecutor general on Thursday advised the Supreme Court not to approve the appointment of former President Luiz Inancio Lula da Silva as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff, saying it was an attempt to avoid prosecution.

"There is evidence to show the presidential appointment was made for the wrong purpose," Rodrigo Janot was quoted by the daily O Globo as saying.

On March 16, Rousseff appointed Lula as her chief of staff, amid mounting pressure against Lula as he faces charges of money laundering and obstruction of justice.

The cabinet job will grant Lula immunity from all prosecution except by the Supreme Court.

The appointment was seen as a move favorable to both Lula and Rousseff who is battling an ongoing impeachment attempt and a deep economic recession.

However, Lula's appointment was later suspended by a Supreme Court judge and the preliminary injunction holds until the full Supreme court can rule on the legality of the appointment next week.

After receiving from judge Sergio Moro audio recordings of conversations between Lula, Rousseff and other ministers, the Supreme Court on Thursday also decreed judicial secrecy on all investigations into Lula within the corruption ring of the state oil company Petrobras.

For her part, Rousseff on Thursday called for national cohesion to overcome the political and economic crises, saying it would only happen if the opposition "respected democracy" and allowed her to finish her second mandate until 2018.

"Brazil now needs a national alliance. The country has overcome difficult moments through such alliances but no alliance will last if it does not respect legality and democracy," she said.

According to Rousseff, such an alliance would allow highly needed proposals to be passed, such as an increase in public spending, key economic reforms, and new labor rights laws.

"I want a national unity government to represent our 204 million citizens. Intolerance and hate do not belong in a responsible government. Since I began my second mandate, I have sought and will continue to seek consensus to overcome any crisis," said Rousseff.

Meanwhile, Brazilian construction company Andrade Gutierrez, one of the country's largest, admitted having financed the ruling Workers' Party with the money obtained through the Petrobras corruption ring, local media reported Thursday.

Otavio Marques de Azevedo, the company's former president, and Flavio Barra, its former executive, told justice officials that they made campaign donations to Rousseff in 2010 and 2014 with dirty money, according to the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.

The company donated 5.4 million U.S. dollars for Rousseff's campaign in 2014 while Marques de Azevedo said he gave another 2.71 million dollars to the Workers' Party between 2010 and 2012.

Marques de Azevedo is currently being held in prison pending a trial for his participation in the corruption ring. He began making confessions in February in order to get a reduced sentence. Endi