Former Senator Marina Silva's new party allowed to register
Gilmar Mendes noted that Silva was “a candidate who had more than 20 million votes in two presidential elections”
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has unanimously approved the registration of the Sustainability Network (REDE), a political party created by former senator and presidential hopeful Marina Silva. The party was denied registration by the TSE in October 2013 because it failed to gather the legally required minimum of 484,169 supporter signatures. In May this year, the party board turned in an additional 56,000 signatures, totaling 498,000.
Announcing his vote on Tuesday (Sept. 22), Justice Gilmar Mendes noted that Silva was “a candidate who had more than 20 million votes in two presidential elections,” and still, her party was denied registration, whereas “minor, catch-all parties were allowed to register, casting shame upon this Court.”
He also talked about the difficulties Marina Silva faced with her presidential bid in 2014, which came about after the death of the ticket head, Eduardo Campos. “She turned up as a candidate under tragic circumstances. She lost the election but won our admiration. Therefore, despite losing, she was a winner,” the justice said.
The voting raised a debate on the rules for creating political parties in Brazil and the parties' negotiations for TV air time in election campaigns. The president of the TSE, Justice Dias Toffoli, pointed out that with the creation of the REDE, Brazil now has 34 parties. He advocated rethinking the whole party system, or “each deputy will end up with a political party of their own, and the number of parties will surge, going from 34 to 500.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Former Senator Marina Silva's new party allowed to register
