Frontrunner faces prison for corruption
Brazil’s elections were thrown into chaos yesterday as former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was ordered to prison for his part in a sprawling international corruption scandal.
The former socialist leader, known as Lula, was told of his fate in a dramatic Supreme Court ruling that looks almost certain to bar him from running for office again in October.
The 72-year-old had hoped the court would allow him to remain free while he appealed a 12-year prison sentence.
His imminent detention, following a conviction last year for accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe, leaves the presidential field wide open.
The ruling over da Silva’s jail term has all but killed off his chances of running for election
BRAZIL:
again, given Brazil’s ‘‘clean hands’’ legislation, which bars those with convictions from the presidential ballot. Brazilians waited late into the night before the Supreme Court finally handed down its verdict on whether da Silva should be imprisoned for a conviction relating to a sprawling moneylaundering scandal that has been slowly picking off officials and politicians for the last four years.
The televised hearing, which lasted 10 hours, saw the justices split 5-5 until the presiding judge cast the deciding ballot and sealed da Silva’s fate.
Divisions were also on show outside the courtroom, with protests and rival protests sweeping the country in two nights of extraordinary social and political pressure. Despite the scandal, da Silva remains hugely popular for leading Brazil through an exceptional period of growth.
The scandal stems from a sweeping inquiry into Lava Jato, or Operation Car Wash, a huge money-laundering inquiry that has exposed financial kickbacks paid by Brazil’s largest construction firm to politicians across Latin America and Africa.
The investigation has already played a hand in bringing down da Silva’s successor, Dilma Rousseff, and has seen Michel Temer, the current president, charged and his approval rating fall as low as 3 per cent. Both deny fraud.
Sending da Silva to prison will further cripple his election hopes, even though another court, the Superior Electoral Tribunal, will rule on whether he can be on the ballot from his cell. The former president must make the decision to register a new candidate himself.
‘‘The Brazilian people have the right to vote for Mr da Silva, the candidate of hope. The Workers’ Party will defend this candidacy in the streets and in all instances, until the very last,’’ the party said.
Jair Bolsonaro, a populist from the Social Liberal Party, is the nearest challenger, polling around 10.5 per cent compared to da Silva’s 18.5 per cent.
Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist described by some as the Donald Trump of Brazil, has built much of his modest support on opposition to da Silva and his links to the corruption inquiry which has upended Brazil and spread across Latin America.
However, Richard Lapper, from global affairs think tank Chatham House, said Bolsonaro was likely to lose support if da Silva was not allowed to run. ‘‘With Lula out of the race, there is a big question about Bolsonaro’s political viability.’’ – Telegraph Group