In 15 points: Action that could make Bolsonaro ineligible – 05/11/2023 – Power

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is the target of 16 actions at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) that could make him ineligible.

One of them is in the final stage and should be the first to go to trial. It remains to be presented the vote of the rapporteur minister and electoral corregidor, Benedito Gonçalves, and that the president of the court, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, guide the action for judgment.

Understand the action that can make Bolsonaro ineligible

1. Who presented the action and what is its focus? The AIJE (electoral judicial investigation action) against Bolsonaro, which is more advanced, was presented by the PDT – the party that had Ciro Gomes, as a candidate for the Presidency. It focuses on the meeting with ambassadors held by the then president in July last year.

2. What is a AIJE? It is an electoral action that serves, among other things, to investigate the occurrence of acts that may affect the equality of candidates in an election. The cases provided for in the legislation are: abuse of political power or authority, abuse of economic power and improper use of the media for the benefit of a candidate or political party.

3. What is the punishment? If declared ineligible by the TSE, Bolsonaro, 68, will not be able to contest elections for eight years – a period that counts from the 2022 election. the possibility of him running again in elections in 2030 or only in 2032.

If the TSE understands that Bolsonaro committed an act of abuse of power, then he would be barred even in 2030, since, for this conviction, the disqualification date would start counting from January 2023. In a less unfavorable scenario for Bolsonaro , however, should he be convicted of prohibited conduct, lawyers say there would be room to discuss whether Bolsonaro could already run in the 2030 election.

4. What was the meeting with ambassadors about? In July last year, Bolsonaro invited dozens of foreign representatives to speak about the country’s electronic voting system. The event lasted about 50 minutes and was broadcast on TV Brasil. At the time, the government’s Secretariat of Communication barred the press, allowing only vehicles that committed to broadcast the event live.

5. What did Bolsonaro say during the meeting? He repeated a series of conspiracy theories about electronic voting machines and the electoral system. He said, for example, that votes in 2018 that would have gone to him would have gone to another candidate, adding that the TSE itself would have said that “in 2018 numbers may have changed”. He also attacked court ministers and stated that they wanted to bring instability to the country and that they did not accept the Armed Forces’ suggestions for the electoral process.

6. What are the offenses pointed out by the PDT in the action? The PDT says that Bolsonaro practiced abuse of political power, which occurs when the holder of power uses his position “to act in a way to influence the voter”, harming the freedom to vote. Furthermore, it claims that he misused social media – by using social media to air attacks on the integrity of the voting system. The party also points out that there would have been misuse of the state apparatus, because the event took place at the Palácio da Alvorada and was broadcast on TV Brasil.

7. What are the requirements for conviction? Among the requirements for conviction in an AIJE is the seriousness of the alleged fact. For this analysis, the TSE uses benchmarks such as the extent of the abusive act (how many people may have been affected); how linked to the candidate’s campaign the acts were; and the moral weight of conduct.

8. What did the PDT argue? According to the author of the action, Bolsonaro distorted the performance of the act, which should be linked to the public interest, “to propagate his campaign program, which among few things, includes attacks on the integrity of the electoral process as the main support of speech”. The content of Bolsonaro’s speeches is not refuted in the PDT action, which claims that the false nature of the statements had already been pointed out by the Electoral Justice itself, by the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) and also by checking agencies and vehicles of press

9. What did Bolsonaro’s defense claim? One of Bolsonaro’s lines of defense was to maintain that the speeches at the event were made as head of state and as an act of government, with the aim of “dispelling doubts about the transparency of the electoral process”. They also point out that the target audience of the event was not voters, but people without Brazilian citizenship.

10. What is the current stage of action? The next steps are the presentation of the vote of the rapporteur of the action, the corregidor Benedito Gonçalves, and the judgment by the plenary of the TSE, and the definition of the date will be in charge of the president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes.

11. What were the previous steps? The PDT action was presented during the elections, in August. The evidence collection phase ended at the end of March, following Gonçalves’ decision, when a deadline was opened for both the PDT and Bolsonaro’s defense to present their final allegations. Afterwards, a period was opened for the manifestation of the Electoral Prosecutor’s Office. As of April 10, the full content of the lawsuit has been placed under provisional secrecy.

12. What was the position of the Attorney General? The Electoral Attorney General’s Office defended in a demonstration at the TSE on April 12 that Bolsonaro’s ineligibility be declared. On the other hand, he defends that it does not apply to his deputy in the 2022 campaign, former minister Walter Braga Netto (PL).

13. What evidence was collected? The video of the meeting with ambassadors was delivered by the PDT itself when joining the action. In addition, the party’s request for inclusion of the coup draft found by the Federal Police during a search and seizure at the home of Anderson Torres, who was Minister of Justice under Bolsonaro, was granted. The document proposed a decree to establish a state of defense at the headquarters of the TSE to review the result of the election. Bolsonaro’s defense contested the inclusion. Documents from the administrative process initiated by the TSE in 2021 to investigate attacks on the fairness of the electoral system were also included.

14. How many witnesses were heard? During the collection of evidence, the magistrate says he accepted the testimony of nine witnesses appointed by the defense, as Gonçalves wrote in the decision that ended this phase of the process. Six gave testimony, such as the senator and former Minister of the Civil House of Bolsonaro, Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI). There would have been withdrawals from three of them. The rapporteur also lists that three other witnesses were heard by determination of the court, including Anderson Torres.

15. What is the current composition of the TSE? The TSE is made up of 7 ministers, 3 of whom come from the STF (Alexandre de Moraes; Cármen Lúcia and Kassio Nunes Marques); 2 of the Superior Court of Justice (Benedito Gonçalves and Raul Araújo Filho); and 2 are lawyers appointed by the Supreme Court (Sérgio Silveira Banhos and Carlos Bastide Horbach). The lawyers will have their term ended this month. Kassio Nunes Marques is the new holder, after minister Ricardo Lewandowski retired in April. In addition to the titular ones, there are 7 substitute ministers.