January 8 riots increase chances of Bolsonaro ineligibility

The January 8 riots have increased the pressure on Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to expedite trials for a number of lawsuits that could make former President Jair Bolsonaro ineligible for public office for eight years.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it himself during a television interview on Wednesday: “If [Jair] Bolsonaro had a direct participation in what happened, he must be punished, and if he is punished, he is ineligible [for office].”

Mr. Bolsonaro and his failed re-election campaign are defendants in 16 petitions filed with the electoral courts, eight of which are signed by Lula’s own coalition. Although the election is over, Mr. Bolsonaro could still be punished by being barred from future races if judges find that he committed an abuse of power in 2022.

Brazil’s electoral laws seek to level the playing field by setting limits on what a candidate can do in regard to spending or using the government’s structure. This includes illegal financing, the use of one’s office to influence voters, and offering benefits to voters in the hopes of swaying them.

Lula and his political group have relentlessly accused Mr. Bolsonaro of all the above. “We didn’t face an adversary. We faced the power of the Brazilian state put at the service of the incumbent to prevent us from winning,” Lula said during his victory speech.

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