The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil (TSE) declared ineligible former President Jair Bolsonaro to run again as president of the South American country, after concluding that he abused his power and threw unfounded doubts on the electronic voting system of said country.
The decision - taken on Friday, June 30, 2023 - prohibits the far-right politician from running for any public office until 2030which probably will erase any chance of him regaining power.
Four of the seven judges of the country’s highest electoral court agreed that Bolsonaro abused his authority by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and sow doubts about the vote.
“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it“, said Carlos Meloprofessor of political science at the Insper University of Sao Paulo.
“After this, he will try stay out of jailchoose some of his allies to keep his political capital, but it is very unlikely that he will ever return to the presidency,” he said.
What is Bolsonaro accused of?
The case centers on a meeting of July 18, 2022 in which Bolsonaro used government personnel, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to tell foreign ambassadors that the country’s electronic voting system was manipulated.
“Bolsonaro abused the powers of his office by calling the meeting: check. He used government personnel and buildings for an electoral objective: check. And he mixed the interests of the country with those of his campaign: mate,” he said. Marlon Reisan election law expert who helped draft the ineligibility provisions.
Bolsonaro can still appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. However, he faces other legal problems, including criminal investigations.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elfinanciero/ESRON7J7DVBXFJQZKHCZZM7AJE.jpg&description=Guilty%21++Jair+Bolsonaro+is+stripped+of+his+political+rights+for+8+years+for+abuse+of+power){kind=link}