Brazil split in two over Lula as elections near

Brazil has split in two and the rift will be even greater in coming days if, as expected, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva enters prison. The Federal Supreme Court (STF) yesterday rejected Lula’s last opportunity to remain in liberty while his final appeals against his sentencing to twelve years in prison for corruption are heard. Effectively, Lula is standing at the gates of a prison, while his candidacy is under a cloud of uncertainty.

Prison does not prevent him from running in the elections of next October, but Clean Slate (a law approved by Lula himself to clean up corrupt politics) could leave him out of the race to return to Planalto Palace. If the Electoral Tribunal considers that this law applies to him, Lula’s dreams of returning to the presidency will vanish.

The decision has been celebrated by the right-leaning parties but is a disaster for the Worker’s Party (PT) which has no Plan B, no other candidate who can come anywhere near the power of the former president to attract voters and lead them to the polling stations. The party issued a statement following the ruling which simply said: “Today is a tragic day for democracy and for Brazil.” The PT considers that the trial was unfair and that sentence responds to “a combination of political and economic interests.”