A lawsuit has been pending for two years in the (Federal Supreme Court) that could end the election in the middle of an election year, even on the eve of the votes, bought with money and delivered to the political strongholds of deputies and senators.
The judicial process began in August 2022 and has already included the positions of the (Attorney General of the Union), but has not been in progress since November 2022 in the STF minister’s office.
Last October, the Sheet showed that only the federal state-owned company had , in an amount similar to that verified in the 2020 election during the previous administration of ().
In 2024, donations of machinery, equipment and materials by the state-owned company reached R$547 million by September 14th.
During the 2020 municipal elections, under Bolsonaro’s government, the transfer of assets reached R$529 million, which corresponds to R$572 million in corrected values until the end of that same month.
In the 2022 general elections, distributions also took place. That year, .
The amount at the time included the donation of more than 100,000 items valued at R$247 million from July of that year alone, when a series of restrictions under electoral legislation began.
The spree of product deliveries that could unbalance electoral disputes in favor of congressmen sponsoring amendments and their allies.
Electoral laws prevent the free distribution of goods and services in voting years, except in emergency situations or social programs already underway.
The dribble in the legal field began with a bill initiated by Planalto, in the Chamber of Deputies, which had as its theme the 2022 federal budget.
During its processing, the legislative proposal ended up gaining an article that had no relation to its original subject, a device that is called “jabuti” in political circles.
Once approved, the text established the guidance that the official donation of goods in an election year is permitted as long as it is accompanied by charges applied to the beneficiaries. This, in theory, would eliminate the free nature of distributions.
The “jabuti” was proposed by federal deputy Carlos Gaguim (União Brasil-TO), former deputy leader of the Bolsonaro government in the Chamber, and became part of federal law 14,435 of 2022, which came into force in August of that year.
After Bolsonaro’s sanction, the Rede Sustentabilidade party filed a lawsuit with the STF to ask that the article relating to distributions be considered unconstitutional.
“This is, strictly speaking, an undue benefit given to those in power, who can use the public machine to make donations of a purely electoral nature”, according to the party’s petition.
In practice, to take advantage of the legal loophole, .
The papers began to contain clauses whereby the associations or benefiting entities had to pay or do something in return, such as delivering fruit pulp to institutions or 5 kg of meat to a school. There are cases in which payment of 1% of the value of the vehicle, machine or equipment delivered is required.
Many of the documents, technically called “donation terms”, did not hide that the new rules had been included to circumvent electoral law.
In Piauí, for example, the terms of the local superintendence were expressed and stated that, “as a result of the election year, a charge for the donation is established to carry out an association/cooperativism course with a minimum of eight class hours”.
At the end of September 2022, the AGU under Bolsonaro was summoned to speak out in the STF process and defended the measure.
“On several occasions, the Superior Electoral Court understood that the consideration for the donation detracts from the gratuitous nature of the donation. Therefore, contrary to what was maintained by the author, [Rede]the questioned change does not create an imbalance in the electoral process, as the aforementioned provision is merely interpretative in nature and corroborates the understanding already adopted by the Electoral Court”, claimed the body.
“Similarly, there is no offense to citizenship, political pluralism and the objective of building a free, fair and supportive society”, concluded the AGU at the time.
The Attorney General of the Republic at the time, in November of that year, presented a statement opposing the new rule.
“The rule introduced a potentially unequal mechanism in the electoral process, violating the principle of equality and the constitutional foundations of citizenship and political pluralism”, argued Aras in the case.
“The fact that the donation contract is of the type with a charge does not change the above conclusion. It is that the charge consists of an accessory element of the donation contract, not taking away its characteristic of liberality (gratuity)”, wrote the then attorney general of Republic.
Still in November 2022, shortly after the Prosecutor’s Office requested that the measure be declared unconstitutional, the case was sent to Minister Kassio’s office, and there has been no movement since then. The judge has held a seat on the STF since 2020, when he was appointed to the position by Bolsonaro.
The Rede Sustentabilidade party criticized the suspension of the process for two years through a note signed by the party’s spokesperson, Wesley Diógenes.
“The prolonged period of time between the ADI 7220 protocol and the absence of a final decision represents a factor of legal uncertainty in the electoral process”, according to the party.
“The delay in a definition on the topic allows managers seeking re-election to use donations as an instrument of electoral favoritism. This practice compromises equality between candidates and directly affects the legitimacy of the electoral result”, according to the caption .
A Sheet He sought out Minister Kassio through the STF’s advisory services. The court’s press coordinator sent an email to the reporter in which he stated that the minister “cannot comment on a case that is yet to be analyzed” and that “the process is public and its progress can be monitored”.
