BRASILIA: In a significant ruling, Brazil’s electoral court voted on Friday to bar former President Jair Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030. The court concluded that Bolsonaro had abused his power and undermined confidence in the electoral system in the months leading up to his defeat in the 2022 election.
During the proceedings, broadcast live on YouTube, a fourth judge in the seven-person panel voted against the former president, sealing his political fate. One judge voted in favor of Bolsonaro, while the remaining two had yet to publicly announce their decisions.
“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it,” commented Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, to the Associated Press. Melo added, “After this, he will try to stay out of jail, elect some of his allies to keep his political capital, but it is very unlikely he will ever return to the presidency.”
Jair Bolsonaro to Appeal Court Decision
Bolsonaro had been considering a run for a senate seat in 2026. His lawyer, Karina Kufa, stated that the former president would appeal the decision, first to the electoral court and, if necessary, to Brazil’s Supreme Court.
The case revolved around a July 18, 2022, meeting where Bolsonaro, utilizing government staff, state TV, and the presidential palace in Brasilia, claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting system was rigged. Márlon Reis, an electoral law expert who contributed to drafting the complaint against Bolsonaro, explained, “Bolsonaro abused the powers of his office by calling the meeting: check. He used government staffers and buildings with an electoral objective: check. And he mixed the country’s interests with those of his campaign: check,” according to AP.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a recent poll indicated that 43% of Brazilians opposed barring Bolsonaro from office, while 47% supported the ban.
In addition to the electoral court ruling, Bolsonaro also faces a criminal investigation into allegations that he incited his supporters to attack the congress, the presidential palace, and the supreme court shortly after his election defeat, resembling the events of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
