The participation of first lady Rosangela da Silva, known as Janja, in the parade of the Acadêmicos de Niterói samba school, which pays homage to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this Sunday (15), generated disagreements among the president’s allies. The investigation is by Pedro Venceslau, at the Now CNN.
According to Venceslau, President Lula was advised against participating directly in the parade. Therefore, the decision was for him to watch the performance from a box at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro.
“President Lula’s participation was initially considered, he would like to parade, but he was advised against it, first by Sidônio Palmeira, who is responsible for communications, and then by the AGU (Attorney General’s Office), so he decided to watch from the box”, reported the analyst.
However, Janja decided to parade in the “Amigos do Lula” block, which caused discomfort in a section of the group. For some advisors, it would have been more prudent for her to also remain in the box.
“Firstly, it ends up directly connecting the president to the parade from a legal point of view, in case there is any deviation from the electoral point of view. And, secondly, the samba school is a strong candidate to be demoted […] President Lula could have a reputation for being cold,” warned Pedro Venceslau.
Possible electoral and legal implications
The samba school’s presentation raises questions about what is possible, since Lula is a pre-candidate for re-election. The samba clip from Acadêmicos de Niterói has been compared to a campaign jingle and is being widely circulated by PT supporters on social media.
Another factor that worries allies is the history of schools recently promoted to the special group. Acadêmicos de Niterói, which moved up from the access group, is considered a strong candidate for relegation, as often happens with schools that do not have the same traditional structure.
Article 36 of the Elections Law establishes that mentions of alleged candidacies or exaltations of personal qualities of pre-candidates do not constitute advance electoral propaganda, as long as they do not involve an explicit request for a vote. After the parade, it will be up to the Electoral Court to analyze whether there was any legal transgression, especially considering elements such as references to the number 13, which appears in the samba-enredo.
“The fact is that President Lula has been in the pre-campaign for a long time, and here in Brazil, the pre-campaign is a gray area”, stated Pedro Venceslau, adding: “When the campaign actually starts, then electoral justice comes to the fore. But, the long pre-campaign period is marked by a certain freedom and President Lula has made official platforms real platforms”.
