In the midst of the trial against the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, for abuse of power, three of the seven judges of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal voted on June 29 in favor of disqualifying the former president for eight years and only one magistrate would acquit him. The ruling was postponed until Friday, June 30, when the remaining judges are scheduled to rule. The case goes back to Bolsonaro’s statements, when he was head of state and a candidate for re-election, in which he attacked his country’s electoral system.
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A surprising potential turnaround for a figure who, until recently, was the most powerful man in Brazil.
The political future of former President Jair Bolsonaro is on a tightrope after this Thursday, June 29, three of the seven judges of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal voted against him to disqualify him from running for public office for the next eight years.
Only one magistrate voted in favor of acquitting him, so now his fate is in the hands of the three remaining magistrates, whose verdict was scheduled for Friday, June 30.
The hearing was suspended this Thursday and postponed for a day later by the president of the highest electoral authority in Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, who argued lack of time, after four and a half hours of discussion.
Minister Raul Araújo votes against the ineligibility of Jair Bolsonaro.
The Minister Raul Araújo, of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), issued his vote against the ineligibility of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Or justify your vote, argument, or that is clear to all of us, or… pic.twitter.com/0dNE1AmvlV
— Julia Zanatta (@apropriajulia) June 29, 2023
Bolsonaro is accused of abuse of power, after, according to the authorities, he created a national movement to annul the result of the 2022 presidential elections, in which he lost the reelection against the current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
His actions triggered, the investigation highlights, the attack by hundreds of followers of the extreme right to the three seats of power in Brazil, in the capital: Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme Court.
The far-right former president is accused of excessive use of his authority, using government communication channels to promote his campaign and casting unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
Although his criticisms were frequent last year in the face of the elections, the case against him highlights a meeting called by Bolsonaro on July 18, 2022, at the presidential palace. There, before fifty ambassadors, the political leader disqualified the transparency of the electoral system and the very democracy of his nation without proof. The act was broadcast on public television under the order of the then head of state.
“Witch hunt” in favor of the Brazilian left?
This is how Jair Bolsonaro points out the accusations against him. The former president has indicated that the trial that would disqualify him for several years is designed to allow Brazil’s left to fight without opposition in the 2026 elections, elections in which he hoped to run.
“If I am still alive and also eligible, and if it is the desire of the people, I am going to contest the Presidency again,” The former president pointed out last Friday, June 23, one day after the hearings of this judicial process against him began.
But in the midst of the dismissals of the case, Bolsonaro himself has indicated his probable exclusion from political life for the next few years.
“Everyone seems to say that it is probable that they will exclude me from the position (…) I will not despair. What can I do?”, he declared in a recent interview with the newspaper ‘Folha de Sao Paulo’.
Many point to a possible ruling against him. Rodrigo Prando, a professor of political science at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, stressed that the evidence against Bolsonaro is solid. “Bolsonaro speaks in live broadcasts, on Twitter. I have never seen anyone provide as much material against himself as Bolsonaro did,” he highlighted.
The former president does not face a prison sentence for this case. However, it would be a serious blow to the political career of one of the biggest far-right leaders to emerge in Latin America.
Additionally, the 68-year-old still faces multiple criminal investigations that could put him behind bars. Among them, an investigation for alleged falsification of his vaccination certificate against Covid-19, something that he rejects.
As the former president faces scrutiny from the electoral court, many of his former allies have turned their backs on him and backed new right-wing figures such as Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio Freitas and Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema. .
Bolsonaro seems to place hopes in Brazilian politics through family members, such as his legislator children and his wife Michelle, who he said could be a presidential candidate, although he stressed that he lacks political experience.
With Reuters, EFE and AP
