September 7: Gonet calls for Bolsonaro’s ineligibility – 10/15/2023 – Power

The Electoral Attorney General’s Office spoke out this Sunday (15) in favor of the ineligibility of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) because, according to the body, he used the celebrations of the bicentenary of Independence, last year, to carry out an electoral campaign using of public money.

The body filed its statement with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) in actions presented by senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS), who ran for President, and by the PDT. They claim that the former president took advantage of the official ceremonies on that date, in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, to promote his bid for re-election.

Bolsonaro was already declared ineligible for eight years in another action, which involved a meeting with ambassadors in which he launched attacks and spread lies about the electoral system. Even if convicted in this new process, there is no practical effect in changing the period of ineligibility.

In the action regarding September 7th, the senator claims that there was an abuse of political power and economic power with the acts. She argued that there was a substantial increase in resources that are normally allocated to the festivities and that the official events were located close to rallies of the then candidate for re-election.

For the deputy electoral attorney general, Paulo Gonet, Bolsonaro “fulfills all the requirements for the application of the ineligibility penalty” as a result of the event.

“Effectively, the evidence in the case reveals an intentional hybridization of official events, funded and organized by the federal government, with the campaign acts of the candidate for re-election”, said Gonet in his statement.

“The confusion served the purpose of promoting the re-election for which the candidate, who had always been identified with military values ​​and patriotism, was fighting. The official festivities of the 7th of September, in which these qualities are traditionally praised, could undoubtedly count on the presence of the head of state”, he added.

“It was not possible, however, to transform them into an electoral campaign, with the exploitation of investments in resources from the public treasury, personnel and public assets.”

In the process, Bolsonaro’s defense argued that there was no illegal use, for electoral purposes, of the September 7th celebrations.

According to Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Tarcísio Vieira, the celebrations of the civic event took place “in a naturally open and institutional way, with the presence of authorities and guests on the official stage.”

“There were mostly military parades and celebrations, in a protocol manner. And political-electoral speeches and behaviors typical of campaigns were not produced or undertaken at this stage,” said the lawyer.

He adds, however, that after the end of the official agenda, the then president, “no longer wearing the presidential sash, walked towards the public and spoke, as a candidate.”

“In the same way that other candidates could have done, at that exact moment and throughout the day,” said the defense.

The Electoral Attorney General’s Office, on the other hand, spoke out against the conviction of Walter Braga Netto, who ran for vice president on Bolsonaro’s ticket.

“There is no proof of the participation of vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Neto in the events narrated, nor of his consent to them. The person being investigated, therefore, cannot suffer the penalty of ineligibility for abuse of political power, in accordance with jurisprudence of the TSE.”

There is still no date for the judgment of these actions related to September 7th.

Bolsonaro was the target of a series of actions in the Electoral Court, only part of which concerned the acts on the Bicentenary of Independence.

In June, by 5 votes to 2, the court declared Bolsonaro ineligible for eight years, due to attacks and lies against the electoral system in a meeting with ambassadors.

Furthermore, the TSE is currently judging three other actions against Bolsonaro that involve the frustrated campaign for re-election, related to the use of weekly lives to ask for votes and support events at the Palácio do Planalto and Palácio da Alvorada. In these cases, Gonet spoke out against punishing the former president.