'Most popular politician on earth' barred from running for president

BRAZIL, Sept 1: Brazil’s jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the front-runner in the country’s election, will be struck from the ballot, an electoral court has ruled, reshaping Brazil’s election one month before voters cast their ballots.

The much-anticipated decision brings some clarity to a chaotic campaign season in which the man who had been favoured to win Latin America’s largest election was sitting behind bars.

Lula, who ruled Brazil between 2003 and 2011, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering and corruption in April. Yet, running a campaign largely from his jail cell, he has been able to capture nearly 40 per cent of prospective votes for October’s presidential elections, according to the latest polls.

The decision, while long expected, leaves tens of millions of voters without a candidate and adds uncertainty to the race.

After several hours of debate late on Friday, local time, five justices had voted against Lula's candidacy and just one in favour. One more is still to vote, though the majority is enough to seal da Lula's fate.

Lula was wildly popular as president of Latin America's largest nation between 2003 and 2010. Former US president Barack Obama once called him the "most popular politician on earth." But Lula and his Workers' Party have lost much of that appeal over the last several years amid a sprawling corruption probe that has ensnared many top businessmen and politicians, including him.

The Supreme Electoral Court barred Lula from running because it would violate an anti-corruption law that the former president himself signed. The 2010 “Clean Slate” law prevents any candidate who has had a conviction upheld from running for office for eight years. He is the first presidential candidate to be barred from running due to the law.

“We are not deciding at any level, on the former president’s culpability, and much less his political legacy,” said Judge Luis Roberto Barroso, who brought the case to the electoral tribunal for deliberation. The law preventing Lula from running because of his corruption charges is clear, he argued. “There is no margin for the electoral court to make another decision.”

“We have a clearer picture that Lula’s candidacy is doomed,” said David Fleischer, a politics professor at the University of Brasilia. “Today is D-Day. As of today, the Workers' Party will switch gears into plan B.”

The Workers’ Party is expected to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and has until September 17 to replace Lula with another candidate or forfeit the ticket. It is widely expected to cast Lula’s candidate for vice president, Fernando Haddad, as his replacement. But whether Lula can transfer his popularity to a replacement remains to be seen.

The court also ruled Lula must not appear as a presidential candidate in free airtime that is given to political parties on nationwide TV and radio starting on Saturday

Lula, who left the presidency with a record approval rating of 87 per cent, consolidated support for his candidacy in the aftermath of his arrest. In April, after a tense, two-day stand-off with police, he turned himself in to authorities.

He is accused of securing lucrative government contracts for one of the country’s largest construction companies in exchange for a beachfront apartment. His conviction was upheld by an appeals court in January.

Lula has said the case amounts to a right-wing coup to keep him from winning the presidency.

Many see the court decision as a marker in Brazil’s fight against endemic corruption. Lula is the highest-profile figure to be charged in the so-called “car wash” investigation, a sprawling corruption probe that has brought down some of Brazil’s most powerful businessmen and politicians over the last five years.

“Brazil’s fight against corruption and impunity constantly suffer attacks and attempts at delegitimisation by powerful parties and political disputes,” said Bruno Brandao, head of Transparency International in Brazil. “The best way to protect these efforts is through the strict legality and swift resolution of eventual disputes.”

Last month, a group of United Nations-appointed human rights experts urged Brazilian authorities to allow Lula to run until he exhausts all appeals. He faces seven other corruption cases.

In June, 29 members of the US Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders, signed a letter questioning the merits of Lula’s imprisonment. “The fight against corruption must not be used to justify the persecution of political opponents or deny them the opportunity to freely participate in elections,” the lawmakers wrote.

The end of Lula’s candidacy opens the electoral field to runner-up Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing former soldier whose platform includes gun legalisation and weaker environmental regulations.