The parade in honor of the president (PT) created an opening for electoral condemnation, in the opinion of experts heard by the Sheet.
They are divided, however, on the potential for condemnation, with some of them thinking that the demonstrations by Lula and the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school, which paid homage, were contained and mitigated the possibility of being framed as early electoral propaganda or abuse of power.
Lula attended the tribute in Sapucaí this Sunday (15) and even went to the sambadrome track alongside the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes (PSD). The first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, known as Janja, was also at the event, but to avoid problems with the .
The event included members of the school parading in red clothes with stars on their chests, but without the PT number 13. The jingle “olê, olê, hello, Lula! Lula!” appeared in the plot, as well as a reference to the former president (PL) as a clown and prisoner.
The parade generated a reaction from the opposition, which had already taken to court requests to prevent the tribute, on charges of early electoral propaganda and abuse of power.
According to the Electoral Court, explicit requests for votes and the use of “magic words”, expressions semantically similar to the express request, such as “support” or “he is the best for the position” are considered early electoral propaganda. The fine for early electoral propaganda is up to R$25,000 or corresponding to the cost of the advertisement, if more expensive.
Abuse of power can include an act understood as promoting a candidate, paid for by the public authorities, and with the capacity to unbalance the election. The penalty is ineligibility and, in the case of an elected candidate, loss of mandate.
On Thursday (12), he rejected, in a unanimous decision, barring the samba-enredo, but he did it. “The popular festival of Carnival cannot be a window for anyone’s electoral crimes”, said the minister, who drew attention to the possibility of excesses and abuses.
After the parade, the president of the Novo party, Eduardo Ribeiro, stated that he was asking for Lula’s ineligibility due to the act.
For electoral law specialist Alberto Rollo, the work as a whole, with Lula’s jingle sung constantly in the parade, could constitute early electoral propaganda. “That [o jingle] being sung repeatedly, it reminded me of a real election rally”, says Rollo.
He says that it is also important that the tribute highlighted themes that have been presented as central to Lula’s campaign in the 2026 elections, such as the discussion about the 6×1 scale and the defense of sovereignty.
Rollo states that he understands that there is also scope for accusations of abuse of power, with the decision being thrown “into the lap of the Electoral Court”.
For Rafael Soares, lawyer and specialist in electoral law, we can talk about early electoral propaganda, because the act brought references that citizens can associate with the political-electoral context.
“The TSE jurisprudence recognizes the so-called magic words as a semantic equivalence to recognize the request to vote outside the campaign period”, he says. “The strong visual appeal of the elements of the Acadêmicos de Niterói parade, signs, references and the expressions of the samba-enredo lyrics clearly have an electoral connotation and the promotion of a pre-candidate which, even without the express request to vote, also generate an advantage that may be illegitimate in relation to the other competing pre-candidates”.
He disagrees, however, that it is possible to speak of abuse of power in this case, because the situation seems, in his interpretation, not to be serious enough to constitute an offense under the law.
Fernandes Neto, academic coordinator at Abradep (Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law) and doctor in constitutional law, understands that both the TV Globo broadcast and President Lula’s behavior, considered by him to be restrained, mitigated the possibility of being framed as an electoral offense.
She believes that the parade emphasized Lula’s story, which is eminently political, but without departing from advance propaganda. “I didn’t see any mention of electoral propaganda or the upcoming election”, says Fernandes Neto. “I found the parade restrained, with links to historical passages in Lula’s life, even if recent.”
Also for electoral lawyer Carla Queiroz, who has a master’s degree in electoral and political law from Washington & Lincoln University and the Paranaense School of Law, there were no excesses on the part of President Lula who, when going to the track to greet members of the school, also had a restrained attitude.
“I understand that President Lula’s presence was so restrained that he only went down to the sambadrome to greet members of the school and then returned to the box. The first lady didn’t even attend the float, which was planned,” he says.
Still, Queiroz understands that the parade can be evaluated from the perspective of abuse of power in the future. “We don’t know how this Acadêmicos de Niterói parade will be used during the political campaign. It could be that sections of the parade will be used as Lula’s election advertisements, and there was an investment of public resources.”
