Brazil electoral court blocks Lula from presidential race

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Brazil's top electoral court ruled on Friday that former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not eligible to run in October's presidential election due to a corruption conviction, Reuters reported.

The ruling by a 4-1 majority of the seven-member court removes some doubt about Brazil's most uncertain election in decades.

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Supporters of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a vigil outside the Federal Police Superintendence in Curitiba, Brazil, August 31, 2018. /Reuters Photo

A majority of justices on Brazil's electoral court have voted to bar ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in October's presidential election, virtually ending his candidacy.

"What is at stake here today is the equality of all citizens before the law and the Constitution," Judge Og Fernandes told the court in his vote to declare Lula ineligible.

Judge Admar Gonzaga, who as a lawyer worked for Lula's handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff's 2010 election, cast the decisive vote in the 6-1 decision that sealed the leftist icon's ejection from the presidential election.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a rally in Curitiba, Brazil, March 28, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The court also ruled that Lula should not appear in the Workers Party's television and radio ads campaign until the ticket has been officially altered to remove him.

The court on Thursday had rejected another request by opponents of Lula to exclude his name from opinion polls.

Da Silva is serving a 12-year-sentence for corruption and money laundering, but he's the front-runner despite being in jail. Under Brazilian law, da Silva is ineligible to run because his conviction was upheld on an initial appeal.

A general view of Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) plenary during a meeting at the TSE to vote on the registration of presidential candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, for the 2018 election, in Brasilia, Brazil, August 31, 2018. /VCG Photo

Da Silva and members of his Workers' Party had hoped the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which makes final decisions on candidacies, would allow him to run.

Da Silva has long argued that he should be allowed to run because his conviction was a sham. Judge Sergio Moro convicted da Silva of trading favors with construction company Grupo OAS in exchange for the promise of a beach house apartment.

Source(s): Reuters