Zanin ceases to act in actions that call for Bolsonaro’s ineligibility

The future minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and former lawyer for Lula, Cristiano Zanin Martins, will no longer act in two actions by the Coligação Brasil da Esperança that ask for the ineligibility of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The documents requesting Zanin’s withdrawal from the process were filed at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on Thursday (22), one day after the approval of Zanin’s nomination in the Senate. The information is from the portal UOL.

The two actions calling for Bolsonaro’s ineligibility were filed in December 2022 by the coalition of Lula and vice-president Geraldo Alckmin. The authors accuse the former president of having misused the media and abused political power.

The coalition linked to Lula argued that Bolsonaro repeatedly carried out “attacking acts against the Brazilian electoral system” with the aim of “shattering the normality and health of the election, thus delegitimizing democratic and safe electoral suffrage, instilling in voters the feeling of insecurity and disbelief in the electoral system and, consequently, attacking the very existence of the Democratic State of Law”.

Also according to the authors, the former president would have acted as the “active voice guiding the narrative of alleged fraud in the Brazilian electoral system”.

In the second action, the coalition claims that Bolsonaro “used the public machine” to “optimize social programs, with the clear intention of raising votes and, therefore, influencing the choice of Brazilian voters, in order to hurt the fairness of the election” .

The group mentions, as an example, the anticipation of the payment of the Brazil Aid and the Gas Aid; the increase in the number of families assisted by Auxílio Brasil and the anticipation of assistance to truck drivers and taxi drivers;

The rapporteur for the two cases at the TSE is Minister Benedito Gonçalves, who is also the rapporteur for the judgment on Bolsonaro’s ineligibility.