MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Bolsonaro's disenfranchisement requested

Bolsonaro is believed to have committed “abuse of power” when he summoned the foreign diplomatic corps to warn them of an alleged glitch with the electronic ballot boxes

Brazil's Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office requested the disenfranchisement of former President Jair Bolsonaro, it was reported. The former head of state has been charged with “abuse of power” for casting doubts about the legitimacy of the electoral system and the electronic ballot boxes in use since 1996.

Now, if the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) acquiesces to the prosecution's request, Bolsonaro would be barred from running for any office within the next eight years.

Bolsonaro is under investigation in 16 cases by the TSE alone, most notably the one linking him to the Jan. 8 riots in Brasilia when many of his followers tried to lure the Armed Forces into staging a coup d'état against President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. He is also being probed in 5 cases by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

During a meeting with Brazilian ambassadors in the run-up to the elections last year, the former president questioned the transparency of the voting system and spread the word that Lula could win the elections through fraud.

Bolsonaro is being investigated by the TSE for sending these unfounded messages with an open electoral purpose and through official channels from the Planalto Palace (seat of the Executive) and the Alvorada Palace (official residence of the head of state). The Public Prosecutor's Office regards these facts as clear indications that Bolsonaro committed an abuse of political power.

At that meeting with the diplomatic corps, which was broadcast live on official channels, Bolsonaro insisted that the 2018 elections (when he won in the runoff) were not totally transparent and that there were irregularities in those of 2014 when President Dilma Rousseff (Workers' Party) was re-elected.

Earlier this week, the TSE unanimously rejected an accusation of bias filed by Bolsonaro against Justice Alexandre De Moraes, who is investigating him for the use of the Planalto and Alvorada palaces.