Lula’s ministers see Bolsonaro’s arrest with apprehension – 08/26/2023 – Politics

Government ministers and allies of President Lula (PT) in Congress are apprehensive about the possible arrest of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) as a result of the progress of investigations against the former president.

The scenario in which Bolsonaro could be arrested stirred up PT militancy, and social movements linked to the government intend to incorporate Bolsonaro’s arrest request into the list of demands of the September 7 demonstrations.

Despite this, members of the government and political articulators say they hope that an arrest, if it occurs, will be in compliance with a request from the Federal Public Ministry and with robust evidence.

That’s because Bolsonaro’s eventual arrest could contribute to inflame and further divide society, they assess.

The former president is at the center of investigations that point to the existence around him, and with his encouragement, of a group that fed real expectations of carrying out a coup d’état and barring the inauguration of the president-elect on January 1st.

In the course of these investigations, evidence of an attempt to sell abroad gifts that the former president had received on official visits to countries in the Middle East also became public.

Despite all these investigations, a parliamentarian very close to Lula cites the annulment of the accusations against the PT and the subsequent acquittal of Dilma Rousseff (PT) in lawsuits as examples of what may happen to Bolsonaro.

This congressman remembers that many PT supporters were investigated and considers that this “swamp” has to end, in a reference to decisions of Justice that he considers arbitrary.

Two more ministers heard under reserve consider that it is necessary to have more evidence before such a measure is taken, since the arrest of the former president could, instead of weakening him politically, contribute to inflating his supporters.

They recall that Lula, even in jail, managed to articulate the candidacy of Fernando Haddad (PT) in his place and led the ally to take second place in the 2018 presidential race.

This Friday (25), in an interview with UOL, the director general of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, said that investigators must be guided by the law, in the investigation, in “responsibility and in the quality of the evidence” and that Bolsonaro can be arrested if the requirements are met.

“If this conjunction of elements arrives at this conclusion [pela prisão]if the legal requirements are met, this is a possible path, and here I am speaking hypothetically”, said the PF director.

Last week, Minister Flávio Dino (Justice) also stated that investigations against the former president are conducted in a serious, impartial and technical manner. He further stated that the investigations are far from over.

“It is up to me to guarantee the Brazilian people, especially the population of Minas Gerais, that the investigation is technical, serious, impartial and is being well conducted. Well conducted in the sense that there is no external interference, neither in the sense of persecution nor in the sense of that there are protections,” said the minister last Monday (21), when asked about the possibility of the former president being arrested.

The minister admitted the possibility of Bolsonaro’s passport being seized, but said that, for now, this request has not yet been made to the Justice. “I do not anticipate an investigation, I do not preside over an investigation. What I can say is that legally it is possible. At this moment there has not yet been this request”, he said.

On another front, Bolsonaro’s allies want to use the accusations to try to turn him into a kind of martyr.

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) bets that society sees what he classifies as persecution of the father.

“The chase [a Bolsonaro] makes the population more sympathetic to him. Polls show that he remains strong and that his support for the 2024 election will be decisive”, says the eldest son of the former president.

These assertions are disputed by those around Lula, who claim that the former president has suffered an erosion of support due to the investigations.

Bolsonaro plummeted in relevance on the networks after the PF operation in the jewelry case and the statements by Walter Delgatti Netto, known as the Vaza Jato hacker, according to the IPD (Digital Popularity Index), analyzed daily by the research and consulting company Quaest.

The reading of Bolsonaro’s allies, however, is that, as the former president is already ineligible, advancing a lame investigation will convey the image that the Federal Police, the STF and the Ministry of Justice are conducting a political process.

These people think that this is especially the case with the investigation into the sending of a message that suggested, without evidence, fraud by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

Bolsonaro confirmed on Wednesday (23) the content of the message sent to businessman Meyer Nigri that led the Federal Police to subpoena the former president to explain the dissemination of fake news about the Brazilian electoral process. “I sent it to Meyer, what’s the problem?” Sheet.

One of the most delicate cases so far is the investigation into jewelry and gifts given by authorities from other countries to the former president. By authorizing steps in the process, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), pointed to an investigation of possible crimes of embezzlement and money laundering.

Allies of the former president say that, over time, the population will interpret the episode as a failure caused by lame legislation, which will even have to be redone by Congress, showing that there were inconsistencies.

Flávio Bolsonaro said that, as a result of these investigations, the former president will have even more power to transfer votes.

The victimism speech, therefore, has been the main bet of the ex-president’s surroundings since denunciations and accusations against him started to become clearer.