Justice will be democratic if it judges soon if Bolsonaro goes to jail – 7/1/2023 – Vinicius Torres Freire

The condemnation of Jair Bolsonaro enlivened political commentary. The fact that the captain of darkness is prevented from being elected until 2030 inspired praise for Justice’s commitment to democracy, speculation about the political heirs of the tyrant and the idea that the “center” will have a place in the sun in the next elections.

It will be?

If Bolsonaro had been re-elected, would the TSE have revoked his mandate? Or was it the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that created the conditions for the Justice to feel comfortable convicting Bolsonaro for electoral fraud, just one item in his long record of crimes & misdemeanors? It seems that Justice continues to function as a moderator of politics, if not an intervener, as it has been doing for the past decade and a half.

In 2017, the TSE, with another composition, acquitted the Dilma-Temer ticket for “excessive evidence”, as the political commentators at the time sarcastically put it, mostly anti-Dilma and, to a lesser extent, anti-Temer. What the TSE did was, in practice, absolve Michel Temer, who had become president with the deposition of the PT candidate.

The court, with the tacit support of other higher courts, thus made its contribution to the “Bridge to the Future”, the economic program of Rousseff’s ouster. Later, these liberal ideas or subterfuges served as a pretext for the adherence of almost all economic elite to Bolsonaro.

Since becoming a federal problem in 2018, Bolsonaro has accumulated a long list of serious lawsuits in court, some of which have been stalled by political manipulations or by chicanery. So far, the inquiries against the Bolsonaros have served as a stockpile of ammunition so that the Supreme Court can bully the candidate for dictator, a function tacitly delegated to Alexandre de Moraes.

The minister did indeed contain the tyrant and his clique, with skill, energy, and courage. But is this what we call a regime of Independent Powers and democracy?

Decisive action was never taken against Bolsonaro, his military clique, against the sponsors of the coup, etc. Lawsuits are still weapons of mass deterrence, so to speak. Bolsonaro, will your ordinances, cronies and followers be judged one day? Or was the ineligibility via TSE enough to accommodate the political system, another arrangement of our many transitions transacted from above?

The superior courts found a way to keep Temer in the chair. They were colluding with abuses and conspiracies by Lava Jato. They prevented Lula from being Dilma Rousseff’s minister. They released Lula. They tolerate challenges from convicted parliamentarians. What’s the criteria?

Even more stimulated by the abstinence of Congress, the STF legislates. He legislated on party loyalty, which encouraged the multiplication of parties. He legislated on campaign finance, which helped to renew political feudalism. Caciques control huge party and electoral funds, in addition to amendments, public resources with which they preserve or expand corrals and reduce electoral competition; advance on Executive prerogatives, without having the same responsibilities.

Justice facilitated the spread of the centrão, that layer of gray jelly that covers politics in almost the entire country, a mash of conservatism, negotiation and ignorant local elites that dominates city halls and the Chamber even more. But that’s a story for a later column, as well as the future of “the center.”

In summary, it remains to be seen whether the Justice will demonstrate a deep commitment to democracy, which requires the Bolsonaro trial, the end of topical interventions in the political dispute and advances in the legislative function; which requires renouncing this role of buffering and moderating power, generally in favor of the dominant currents of the moment.

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