Ex-President Bolsonaro banned from running for office again
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court has banned former President Jair Bolsonaro and General Braga Netto from running for office over the use of Brazil’s Independence celebrations on September 7, 2022, for electoral purposes. The ruling was announced Tuesday (Oct. 31).
This is the second time Bolsonaro is handed an eight-year ineligibility sentence. However, the two terms are not combined. The former president is still barred from taking part in elections until 2030.
In the first case, the former president was convicted by the electoral authorities of abuse of political power and misuse of the media in connection with the meeting he held with ambassadors in July last year at the Alvorada presidential residence to lambast the electronic voting system.
General Braga Netto was Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential running mate in last year’s elections and also took part in the civic event and rallies.
The court’s decision also fines Bolsonaro and Braga Netto BRL 425 thousand and BRL 212 thousand respectively for using the structure of the Independence Bicentenary event to promote their candidacy for re-election.
Votes
By five votes to two, the stance of the rapporteur, Judge Benedito Gonçalves, prevailed in the decision to convict Bolsonaro and Braga Netto of abusing political and economic power in the elections.
In his vote at the October 24 session, the judge cited the irregularities that Bolsonaro committed during the September 7 elections in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.
Among the accusations, Judge Gonçalves cited a TV Brasil interview with Bolsonaro wearing the presidential sash before the start of the parade in Brasília and the government's authorization for tractors belonging to farmers who support the former president to take part in the military parade.
The judge also cited the participation of businessman Luciano Hang, a well-known Bolsonaro supporter, on the event’s official stage and the permit for a float to enter the Esplanade of Ministries as part of Bolsonaro’s rally after the parade.
In Rio de Janeiro, the rapporteur stated, the irregularities took place when Bolsonaro travelled on the presidential plane to take part in another rally, parallel to the civic-military event, and the unprecedented transfer of the military parade from the downtown area to the Copacabana beachfront, a place characterized by the presence of Bolsonaro supporters during the election campaign.
The court decision was the result of three lawsuits filed by the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) and Senator Soraya Thronicke of the Podemos party, who was also a presidential hopeful in 2022.
