By Renan Ramalho * The most advanced action in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to make former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL, right) disqualified took another action last Wednesday (Feb.

8), with the statement of previous Minister of the Civil House Ciro Nogueira and Admiral Flavio Augusto Viana Rocha, previous special secretary of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency.Speaking as defense witnesses, they were called to rebut allegations of abuse of power when Bolsonaro gathered foreign ambassadors in 2015 to question electronic ballot boxes.But, both said in the hearings that they did not effectively take part in the presentation made by the previous president to the diplomats.At the time, Bolsonaro remembered the hacker attack on TSE systems in 2018 and slammed the Courts then-president, Edson Fachin, for overturning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvas 2021 convictions.Bazils electoral court TSE in Brasilia.

(Photo web reproduction)The decision led the way for Lula to run for workplace in 2022.

The claim to make Bolsonaro ineligible was submitted by PDT in July in 2015.

It was the first electoral judicial examination filed with the TSE to attempt to penalize the previous president for the suspicions he raised against the electronic voting system.PDT PARTY SAYS BOLSONARO WANTED TO DELEGITIMIZE THE ELECTIONThe celebration declared supposed abuse of political power.

The argument to attempt to make Bolsonaro ineligible was that the speech against simply electronic tally boxes was eventually targeted at delegitimizing the election ahead of time-- especially in case of Bolsonaros defeat, as happened.Thus, in PDTs words, the informational disorder over the ways of voting was part of Bolsonaros project technique to activate voters.The threat of penalty has actually increased in recent weeks, particularly after the intrusions of the head office of the Three Powers on Jan.

8.

The protesters acted out of anger against Lulas election and the actions of the TSE throughout the election, viewed as partial to Bolsonaros detriment.Reporter of the action, Minister Benedito Gonçalves, basic corregedor of the Electoral Justice, currently attached to the records the draft of a decree took in January at the home of former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres.The document would recommend Bolsonaro figure out a state of defense at the TSE.The objective would be the prompt repair of the smoothness and correctness of the 2022 electoral process -- in practice, annul the election of Lula under the property that the election would have been flawed, as currently insinuated by Bolsonaro.But none of this happened.ACTION RUNS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TSE COMPOSITION MORE HOSTILE TO BOLSONAROThe PDT adopted a strategy to accelerate the development of the action to make Bolsonaro disqualified, hoping that the trial would happen until May.The idea is to benefit from the present composition of the TSE, which is more hostile to Bolsonaro.Four of the 7 ministers embraced harsh positions towards the former president throughout last years project: Alexandre de Moraes, Ricardo Lewandowski, Cármen Lúcia, and Benedito Gonçalves.The rush is since Lewandowski will retire in May and pave the way to Kassio Nunes Marques, appointed by the former president, who stays faithful to him.In the 2022 elections, Jair Bolsonaros opponents discovered how dangerous the conservative politician is for them which he is a token of the right for all of Latin America.

(Photo web recreation)On Wednesday, the PDT attorneys asked that closed the statement of Ciro Nogueira and Flavio Rocha be closed by the evidentiary direction .

This is an intermediate phase of producing proof and performing interviews of witnesses named by the parties.But to finish this step, the complete TSE still requires to decide whether to validate or reverse the decision of the rapporteur, Benedito Gonçalves, to connect the draft state of defense to the process.This trial would be held last Thursday (Feb.

9) however was delayed to next Tuesday (Feb.

14) at the demand of Bolsonaros defense.BOLSONAROS DEFENSE FIGHTS TO GAIN TIME AND ESCAPE THE TRAPIn the opposite direction of PDT, the previous presidents legal representatives wish to delay the process.For this, they intend to present more witnesses to testify, under the argument that brand-new realities-- such as the addition of the draft decree-- entered into the action.The technique is to prolong the proceedings so that the case is evaluated just after Lewandowski departs from TSE.Behind the scenes of the Court, there is a report that the Minister can already begin preparing his vote ahead of time to participate in the trial if it is arranged quickly.Once the evidentiary stage is over, the rapporteur will provide the parties 5 days to present their closing arguments.This will be the last opportunity for the prosecution and the defense to provide their arguments.After that, a deadline is opened for the Public Prosecutors Office to offer its opinion.

With this opinion, Benedito Gonçalves might set a date for trial.If all this occurs by May, as PDT expects, it will be a quick time for a suit of this type.

In general, procedures like this usually move more gradually, dragging for 2 or 3 years.BOLSONAROS STRATEGY IS TO CHALLENGE CHARGES ALSO IN THE SUPREME COURTIn addition to holding off the trial as long as possible, Bolsonaros defense has actually sought to confront the charges, not only in the TSE.Last week, the former presidents lawyers activated the Supreme Court (STF), in a remarkable appeal, to overturn the fine of R$ 25 thousand troubled his project because of the meeting with ambassadors in July.The penalty was used separately from that looking for ineligibility through representations for irregular electoral propaganda.The line of defense of the former president in TSE and STF are similar and discuss concerns of constitutional nature.The previous Minister of the Electoral Court, Tarcísio Vieira de Carvalho Neto, leads the team.He argues, first of all, that the meeting with ambassadors in July-- before the official start of the project-- was an act of government, not to seek votes-- evidence of this is that the audience was comprised of diplomats from other countries, who do not enact Brazil.Bolsonaros objective, according to the defense, was just to talk about the Brazilian electoral system and give more openness to the process.Evidence of this would be the invite made by Bolsonaro for the then president of the TSE, Edson Fachin, to attend the event, along with presidents of other higher courts in Brasilia.But none of them attended.Once this guy, Kassio Nunes Marques, relocates to the TSE in May, the Bolsonaro haters will no longer have a majority.

They are, for that reason, under fun time pressure.

(Photo internet recreation)BOLSONARO WANTED TO ENHANCE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS, SAYS DEFENCE All doubts about the electronic ballot system were presented, directly and, to the International Community, with openness to the Heads of Powers, says the appeal taken to the STF.For the attorneys, by fining Bolsonaro for irregular marketing, the TSE ministers made a error in taking a proposition to enhance the democratic process as if it were a direct attack on participatory democracy .

What is perceived from the speeches of the represented Jair Messias Bolsonaro, through a peaceful examination made with the lenses of the needed institutional discussion and promotion of electoral transparency, is an invitation to improve the system and not an attack on organizations, they claimed.They likewise state that, at the occasion, Bolsonaro spoke as head of state, not as a prospect for re-election.

For that reason, his freedom of expression ought to be respected.Another defense argument discuss the problem of legal certainty to prevent Justice from making Bolsonaro ineligible.The Constitution says that every electoral law can not be used less than a year after its approval.This likewise applies to brand-new understandings signed in the Electoral Justice.According to Bolsonaros attorneys, the great troubled him represented a development in jurisprudence by thinking about that he had actually performed prepared for electoral propaganda.To define this illegal, the TSE thought about that the political leader needs to request for a vote or promote in restricted places, such as signboards, reveal rallies, and the Internet, through paid material boosting.TSE SAW EARLY ADVERTISING IN BOLSONAROS ACTIONSIn fining Bolsonaro, nevertheless, the TSE considered that it would also be irregular advance propaganda to promote a declared delegitimization of the system, from the construction of false realities , which would have been devoted by Bolsonaro in the conference with ambassadors, when questioning the electronic ballot boxes.

It is habits that no longer falls within the genuine right to opinion, doubt, criticism, and expression, slipping into disinformative manipulation, via accurate misstatement, in serious compromise of flexibility of info, and with the ability to erode the really legitimacy of the conflict itself, says the choice of the plenary that enforced the fine.THE NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE TSE SHOULD ONLY APPLY TO THE NEXT ELECTIONFor lawyers, this brand-new understanding could not be applied instantly in these elections to attempt to make Bolsonaro ineligible.

Just as a new electoral law just becomes valid after a year, this brand-new jurisprudence might only be used after the very same period.Thus, Bolsonaros goal is that the ineligibility action loses force if the appeal is accepted and supported by the STF.But the Supreme Court still has a long method to go.

Although directed to the STF, the TSE should first admit the appeal.If described the STF, the ministers need to decide whether it has general repercussion .

That is if it raises appropriate constitutional concerns that go beyond the direct interest of the parties involved, with the possible to impact a broader portion of society.As long as Ricardo Lewandowski is on the TSE, the electoral court can do whatever they want with Bolsonaro.

(Photo web recreation)In this case, it would suggest evaluating whether the questioning of the surveys is secured by liberty of expression, for example.Once the basic consequence has actually been admitted, the reporting judge in the event would start hearing the celebrations and any others interested in discussing the issue.Only then would he take the case to trial, the date of which depends on the presidency of the STF.This is a process that generally takes several years to finish.

* A political journalist specializing in the coverage of Justice in BrasiliaWith details from Gazeta do Povo