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On Thursday (19/01), the Electoral Inspector-General, Minister Benedito Gonçalves, approved the opening of an electoral judicial investigation action against Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for abuse of political and economic power in the 2022 electoral campaign. The case could lead to the ineligibility of the former president.
Political Campaign in the Presidential Palace
The suspicion was taken to the Superior Electoral Court by President Lula’s coalition (PT), which accuses the opponent of carrying out campaign activities in the premises of the Planalto Palace and the Alvorada Palace.
Not the First
Gonçalves highlighted, on his decision, that Bolsonaro already responds to two other investigations as a result of the electoral use of public property. In this case, for carrying out electoral lives in the palaces, with wide transmission on social networks. The former President used the premises of the official residence, for example, to announce support for allies in the second round of the election — in violation of electoral law, according to specialists consulted by Folha.
According to the indictment, Bolsonaro used palaces as a “meeting stage” with governors, federal deputies and celebrities and made use of “all the furniture in the public building”, in flagrant distortion of the purpose of public property.
Other Inquiries
After the 8 January attacks in Brasília, former President Bolsonaro also began to be investigated for involvement in the acts. Currently, the General Prosecutor’s Office investigates if he committed public incitement to crime.
More Time in the US
With his official visa about to expire, Jair Bolsonaro has entered into a visa change process that allows him to stay longer in the United States. The former president tries to regularize his situation in the country. Bolsonaro entered the US with an official visa, which expires on January 30, and which should be replaced by a tourist visa, which lasts 90 days. However, his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, landed in Brasilia on Thursday (26) night, after having accompanied her husband on the trip to Orlando.
According to media sources, Bolsonaro’s change of plans was due to the series of inquiries investigating him, which may lead to his arrest and ineligibility.
A Mistake
Political experts have been evaluating that for most ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), it would be a “mistake” to determine the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro today. The reading of most members of the court is that having the former president arrested could further disrupt the national scene, whether in the social or political sphere.
Bolsonaro should only be the subject of an arrest warrant after conviction by the Justice. This scenario, however, may change if the former president acts directly to inflate new coup acts against Brazilian democracy. Today the punishment that must be applied to Bolsonaro more quickly is that of his ineligibility.
