Gleisi does not want to be tied down to spend money when asking for an end to justice

By calling for the end of the Electoral Justice, during a discussion of the Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) that provides amnesty to political parties that do not comply with the quota rules for women and black people, the president of the Workers’ Party (PT), Gleisi Hoffmann, demonstrated that she does not He wants to spend the fund’s money to support the party he commands.

The Special Campaign Financing Fund was implemented in 2018, as a compensation mechanism at the end of corporate donations to campaigns. In 2022, the “fundão” distributed R$4.9 billion between the parties, of which R$503.4 million was allocated to the PT.

Representative Gleisi Hoffmann (PT-PR) has criticized the fines imposed on political parties by the Electoral Court since the “Amnesty PEC” was approved by the Constitution and Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, in May this year, pointing out that the fines applied to the parties were millionaires and would make the parties unfeasible.

This time, in the Special Committee that deals with the proposal, the PT president once again demonstrated corporatism by pointing out that almost no country in the world has an Electoral Justice. “One of the only places in the world that has Electoral Justice is in Brazil. Which is already absurd and costs three times more than campaign financing for an electoral dispute”, stated the president of the PT, who defends sanctions for parties instead of paying fines.

But experts interviewed by the report reinforce that the same Electoral Court that is now condemning was the one that benefited the Workers’ Party in several decisions that marked the dispute in the 2022 presidential elections, when Lula and Jair Bolsonaro were competing for the Presidency of the Republic.

Moraes rebuts criticism and opposition says PT president acts out of convenience

The president of the PT even tried to “fix” the damage of the statements by stating on social media that the Electoral Justice is “relevant”, but can be criticized. This occurred after the note released by the president of the Superior Electoral Court, minister Alexandre de Moraes.

Moraes stated that the PT president’s statements represent “total ignorance about the importance” of Electoral Justice, and that they were made “with the intention of trying to prevent or reduce the necessary control of the expenditure of public resources carried out by political parties”.

For deputy Alberto Fraga (PL-DF), one of the deputy leaders of the PL in the Chamber of Deputies, “when justice helps them, they agree, they clap. When you are against it, then the world falls apart. So, everything is expected from people on the left.”

Fraga recalls that the PT defends the proposal that exempts parties from fines for non-compliance with gender and race quotas, which should be assessed soon by the Special Committee, and will then be voted on in the House Plenary. “See if the PT votes against amnesty for parties on debts and fines. See how the PT votes or voted.”

Representative Kim Kataguiri (União-SP) says that the Workers’ Party president’s speech is nothing more than hypocrisy. “It’s PT hypocrisy, right? Whenever any organ of justice benefits the PT, this body is democratic, this body is defending the law, this body is for good, it is for democracy. Now, whenever there is a decision against the PT, it is political persecution, that is, there is never anything bad, material against them”.

Kataguiri adds that every time the PT makes mistakes, the party claims that it is being politically persecuted. “The PT is incapable, in the PT narrative, of committing any crime, of making any mistake, and anyone who dares to point out, make any criticism in this sense, is because they are an enemy of the party”, he concludes.

Representative Maurício Marcon (PL-RS) recalls the decisions of the Electoral Court that would have been beneficial to the PT at the time of the campaign, such as the taking down of accounts that were considered disseminators of fake news, and the prevention of linking Lula’s image to dictators , for example.

“Several decisions benefited the PT [no pleito de 2022] and, in a close election as it was, the Electoral Court, in my point of view, played an important role in the bias it had in its decisions”.

Marcon also stated that “when a decision is not to the PT’s liking, they – who call themselves democrats – attack the system, so that the system at the next opportunity does not want to fight against this party and this form of government”, he criticizes. .

Experts criticize Gleisi Hoffmann’s statement

Expert in Electoral Law, Adriano Soares da Costa states that if the PT president’s criticisms of the Electoral Justice were practiced by the previous government, then they would be considered anti-democratic, as they criticized the system by saying that it would be unnecessary and very expensive.

“It is very interesting that the PT shows solidarity with the Electoral Court when it is appropriate, as was the case in the ineligibility actions used against the former president [Jair] Bolsonaro. However, when it suits him, he criticizes the same institution as expensive and unnecessary. It is a vision, therefore, that suits the needs of the party itself, and not objective and substantiated questions”.

For the lawyer, the debate on Electoral Justice is necessary, however, “the same party that praises cannot criticize when it suits them and not for serious principles, justified principles, both from a legal and administrative point of view and of Brazilian democracy”.

Jurist Fabrício Rebelo is another who disagrees with Gleisi Hoffmann’s statements. “It reveals the contradictory essence of the PT, which only seems to be bothered by decisions, whatever they may be, [quando] achieve their interests”, he stated.

He recalled that the TSE determined Bolsonaro’s ineligibility, and that it reversed “the Court’s own understanding on the admission of new evidence, not contained in the complaint”. And in this case, according to the jurist, in addition to remaining silent, the PT celebrated the result of the trial, which shows the “hypocrisy” of the party.

Lawyer Kátia Magalhães, who is also part of the “Eye on Congress” movement, says that once again the deputy’s speech indicates a relativization of values, “the well-known double standard of the left”. Kátia recalls that when the PL was ordered to pay R$22 million due to the mere filing of an action to question the regularity of voting, Gleisi used his networks to applaud the decision, which he called a “pedagogical judgement”.

Political scientist Adriano Cerqueira, from the Federal University of Ouro Preto, echoes the criticism. “When actions benefit the party, remain silent and defend justice. Now, when it involves a pocket issue, and the PT every now and then faces serious problems in relation to fines, along with electoral processes, then, of course, it rises up and attacks the Electoral Court. There is not much coherence, it is more of a corporate action.”

Electoral Court decisions benefited PT in 2022

Since the beginning of the 2022 campaign, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has responded to 60 requests made by the Workers’ Party to remove content from the internet and electoral propaganda that made reference to a possible connection between the then PT presidential candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, corruption scandals, organized crime, the dictatorship in Nicaragua and other issues raised by the left, although condemned by more conservative voters, such as abortion and drugs.

In another decision that benefited the Workers’ Party, the inspector general of Electoral Justice, minister Benedito Gonçalves, prevented the screening of the documentary “Who ordered Jair Bolsonaro to be killed?”, produced by Brasil Paralelo, in a sentence that also determined the removal of posts of social networks and the blocking of profiles linked to the right.

In 2022, Lula’s campaign command made approximately 90 representations to the Electoral Court to remove programs, insertions and posts critical of Lula from the air. The 60 favorable decisions represented a success rate of 64.5%, considering the period analyzed.

Most of them were posts and videos published by then-president Jair Bolsonaro himself, who was a candidate for re-election, and his supporters on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Kwai, Gettr and Telegram. Another nine actions led TSE ministers to veto messages published in Bolsonaro’s official propaganda or sponsored by his campaign.

In another case, the court prohibited the publication of research that showed Bolsonaro ahead of Lula in the state of Minas Gerais. In all these cases, in addition to removing that content, the TSE determined a fine for non-compliance with orders and for anyone who insisted on publishing material considered untrue.