TSE forms majority to make Bolsonaro ineligible due to acts of September 7, 2022

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to ineligibility for alleged electoral use of September 7, 2022 during the celebration of the Bicentenary of Independence. The Electoral Court analyzed three actions against the former president on the issue. Last week, the electoral inspector, minister Benedito Gonçalves, voted to convict Bolsonaro.

The rapporteur’s understanding was followed by ministers Floriano de Azevedo Marques, André Ramos Tavares, Cármen Lúcia and the president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes. Raul Araújo opened the divergence by considering that there was no abuse of political power. Last week, Gonçalves had not declared the ineligibility of Walter Braga Netto, then candidate for vice president on Bolsonaro’s ticket. Floriano opened this understanding and was followed by the majority of the Court.

As a result, this evening, the rapporteur changed his vote and also declared Braga Netto ineligible. The score was 5 to 2 due to the conviction of the ticket. “It is a public and well-known fact that the second person investigated [Braga Netto] played an active role in coordinating the campaign, this performance reaches its peak on the day of the civic-military parade in Brasília”, said the rapporteur.

In June, the former president was declared ineligible for 8 years for questioning the security of the electronic electoral system during a meeting with ambassadors. Bolsonaro’s new conviction is not cumulative, that is, it will not increase the period of ineligibility already determined in the first sentence. The period of ineligibility comes into effect after last year’s election, during this period the former president will have his political rights suspended and will not be able to run for elected office.

In tonight’s session, the third and final of the trial, the first to vote was minister André Ramos Tavares. He followed the understanding presented by Floriano to also declare the ineligibility of the then candidate for vice president. Tavares set a fine of R$425,600 for Bolsonaro and R$212,000 for Braga Netto, as did the rapporteur.

He highlighted TV Brasil’s coverage of the event in Brasília and criticized Bolsonaro’s “call” on his supporters for the acts. “Despite the defense pointing out that there was a clear division of phases between the figure of the president and the candidate during the aforementioned date, I did not glimpse, after a careful analysis of the records, the presence of this necessary and essential delimitation, on the contrary”, he said.

For the minister, “it is noted that the official Bicentenary event was instrumentalized, functioning as a lure for declared electoral events, these being the main events, the electoral ones”. Tavares pointed out that Bolsonaro’s conduct “allows us to see that the intention was to co-opt the prestige of the public date, the state structure and the massive popular participation in the celebration of the Bicentenary to inflate the private act of the re-election campaign”.

“What can be inferred from the case, in reality, is the occurrence of a parasitic use of the day of public celebration and, consequently, an use of a good portion of the state structure… to promote the campaign act”, said the minister.

Cármem Lúcia also votes for the ineligibility of Bolsonaro and Braga Netto

Minister Cármen Lúcia considered that “there was an abusive use of a structure, of a date, in which the split, the separation of time and space to which the defense referred, does not prosper given the evidence produced”. The judge pointed out that Bolsonaro’s prohibited conduct was “widely proven”, as well as the “capture of the state structure and a date of such importance for all Brazilians by an electoral campaign”.

Cármen Lúcia also stated that there was “deliberate confusion between the role of President of the Republic and the private interests of the candidates on the ticket” characterizing abuse of political and economic power and misuse of purpose. The minister also followed Floriano’s understanding regarding Braga Netto and voted for the ineligibility of both Bolsonaro and his then candidate for vice president, and for the imposition of fines on both of them in the amounts set by the rapporteur.

Nunes Marques follows divergence opened by Raul Araújo

Minister Nunes Marques followed Raul Araújo’s divergence and stated that the “expenditure argument” for the Bicentenary of Independence ceremony “is not capable of sustaining, by itself, its electoral connotation”. He highlighted that several of Bolsonaro’s speeches were permeated with patriotic themes.

The judge considered that the facts “do not corroborate the thesis of prohibited conduct or abuse”. He defended the full acquittal of Braga Netto and the imposition of a R$20,000 fine on Bolsonaro. “The two events under analysis [de Brasília e do Rio de Janeiro] they did not have the potential to seriously violate the legal interests protected by the rules”, he stated.

Moraes classified the event in Rio as “totally electoral” and lamented the “instrumentalization” of the Armed Forces

The president of the TSE, minister Alexandre de Moraes, was the last to vote and began his speech by saying that “the Electoral Court is not stupid”. Moraes said that “on that September 7th there was a true fusion between the official act and the electoral act, the abuse is clear” and voted to condemn Bolsonaro and Braga Netto.

The minister classified the event in Rio de Janeiro as “totally electoral” and lamented the “instrumentalization” of the Armed Forces in the ceremony. During his vote, Moraes even mentioned the participation of businessman Luciano Hang, wearing a “parakeet green” suit, at the event in Rio de Janeiro.

“The failure to achieve [do evento tradicional do 7 de Setembro no Rio]on a symbolic date of 200 years, to satisfy the electoral and personal interests of a candidate, as I said, for me, this alone constitutes prohibited conduct, the abuse of political power as commander in chief of the Armed Forces”, said Moraes.

Moraes stated that the evidence is robust against the actions of the former president and Braga Netto in the acts. “There is no doubt, in my opinion, about the practice of prohibited conduct, there is no doubt about the abuse of political power”, he highlighted. The minister stated that Bolsonaro broke with the principle of impersonality.