The parade in honor of the president (), held by the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school, has the potential to generate condemnation depending on what happens on the day of the event, in the opinion of experts heard by the Sheet.
Although they believe that the samba-enredo does not have enough elements to constitute early electoral propaganda, some of them cite excerpts from the song that would be on the limit of legality and talk about the possibility of abuse of power — which could lead to ineligibility and, if re-elected, the loss of the president’s new term. Another party does not see any illegality in the theme of the parade, which will take place on Sunday (15).
The topic is the target of the opposition, which sued the Electoral Public Ministry and the Attorney General of the Republic alleging, among other points, advance propaganda and violation of the principle of equal opportunities among future candidates for the Presidency in 2026.
Lula, who has already confirmed that he is seeking re-election, will be honored by Acadêmicos de Niterói, a newcomer to the Special Group of . The plot “From the top of the mulungu comes hope: Lula, the worker of Brazil” exalts the president’s trajectory and features excerpts such as the battle cry “olê, olê, hello, Lula! Lula!”, the motto “love overcame fear” and reference to the PT’s number at the polls (“ironically, 13 nights, 13 days”).
Deputies from Novo made a representation to the (Federal Audit Court) asking for the return of public money given to the school or for the parade to be prevented. A court technician for the transfer of the funds, denied by the reporting minister Aroldo Cedraz. The magistrate, however, accepted the representation, which is ongoing.
The questioned resource comes from a budget of R$ 12 million from Embratur (Brazilian Agency for the International Promotion of Tourism) given to Liesa (Independent League of Samba Schools in Rio de Janeiro) to transfer R$ 1 million to each of the schools in the Special Group, including Acadêmicos de Niterói.
. According to experts interviewed by Sheetthe context is unprecedented and has room for opposition opposition.
According to Raquel Cavalcanti Machado, professor of electoral law at UFC (Federal University of Ceará), the explicit request to vote and the use of “magic words” are considered early electoral propaganda, expressions semantically similar to the express request, such as “support” or “he is the best for the position”.
For Machado, the lyrics of the samba-enredo do not slip in either case, although the section that refers to the acronym’s number may compromise it. Another problem, he says, could come from a more forceful demonstration on the day of the parade.
“It may be that more appealing phrases end up being said [na Sapucaí]. This in itself already carries a risk. People will have to restrain themselves.” The fine for early electoral propaganda is up to R$25,000 or corresponding to the cost of the advertisement, if more expensive.
The parade could also be accused of abuse of power, if the act were understood as promoting a candidate, paid for by the public authorities. The penalty is ineligibility and, in the case of an elected candidate, loss of mandate.
She thinks the event is unlikely to be classified as an abuse of power, but says the argument is “a card on the table that can be used by the opposition, given such a gray situation.”
According to Fernandes Neto, a specialist in electoral law and academic coordinator at Abradep (Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law), the plot is not advance propaganda because it does not have an explicit request for voting, but there is a section on the “threshold of legality” when reproducing Lula’s war cry.
For him, there is the possibility of classifying the act as an abuse of power, a subjective assessment that would go through the (Superior Electoral Court) and needs to consider whether the act is “serious, with reprehensible repercussions”.
“There is a allocation of public values that can be interpreted as violating the principle of impersonality and that can generate consequences of an abuse of political, economic and media power, because it could, in theory, mean inequality in the election”, says Fernandes Neto.
“In this sense, I consider it very worrying for the candidacy and for Lula, because it would in fact put the TSE in a very tight situation. I don’t think we have ever had a problem like this in relation to the President of the Republic.”
Fernando Neisser, professor of electoral law at FGV São Paulo, does not identify any illegality in the samba-enredo. He also sees no problems with the funding granted to the school, as there is no evidence of any movement on the part of the president “to make this honor happen.”
Vitor Rhein Schirato, professor of administrative law at USP, states that the identical amount given to Special Group schools is compatible with the principle of impersonality in public administration. What cannot happen, he says, is that a school benefits, or is penalized, by the plot it chooses. Therefore, he does not see any illegality in the use of public resources.
The Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic denied “any irregularity or electoral nature” in the parade. By means of a note to Sheetstated that the budget is the same as the previous year, distributed equally, and that “there was no interference in the choice of the plot”.
“Secom-PR respects the artistic autonomy of schools and understands that questioning the theme of a samba-plot lacks a legal basis and may reflect prejudice against cultural manifestations.”
Embratur reinforced the equal allocation of the amount to the schools in the Special Group and said that “it does not interfere in the choice of sambas, respecting the artistic autonomy and freedom of expression of the groups”.
Acadêmicos de Niterói did not respond to the report’s questions about how the theme was chosen and the plans to avoid early electoral propaganda on the day of the parade.
