The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) formed a majority this Friday (30) to make Jair Messias Bolsonaro (PL) ineligible for eight years. The former president, 68, will be able to run again in 2030, aged 75, thus staying away from three elections until then (one of them being the 2026 presidential run).
Five of the seven court Justices (Benedito Gonçalves, Floriano de Azevedo Marques Neto, André Ramos Tavares, Cármen Lúcia and Alexandre de Moraes) voted to recognize the abuse of political power and the misuse of the media by the former president. Raul Araújo and Kassio Nunes Marques demonstrated to absolve him from the accusation.
The lawsuit on trial focuses on the meeting that took place in July last year with foreign ambassadors at the Alvorada Palace. At the time, less than three months before the election, Bolsonaro made false and distorted statements regarding the electoral process, claiming to be based on official data, in addition to seeking to discredit the Supreme Electoral Court Justices.
The ineligibility takes President Lula’s (PT) main opponent out of the running and forces the right wing to build up a name to inherit Bolsonaro’s electoral capital in the 2026 election.
Translated by Cassy Dias