Who may prove to be the democratic advocate in these tests?
The Portuguese courts is facing off against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently facing a coup attempt test before the Constitutional Court in Brazil.
Followers of the European right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen, who was found guilty of bribery, are protesting against what they perceive as a “political verdict” in France.
And in South Korea, several people view President Yoon Suk Yeol as a “martyr for democracy,” as recently rejected by the country’s Constitutional Court. Amazingly, Yeol declared martial law in December of that year in order to “protect the nation from pro-North Asian anti-state causes.”
The censure of Brazil’s reportedly distorted court is actually a sign of its power, according to Brazilian social scientist Carlos Pereira of the University Fundacao Getulio Vargas. He told DW that “people who lose usually accuse the court of being unjust and biased.”
Lula’s left-wing followers had made the same explanation when Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva was found guilty and detained for bribery in 2018.
Similar complaints can be found in France, Germany, and the US, according to Pereira, the co-author of the book titled” Why Didn’t Portuguese Republic Die”?
According to him,” The court is no getting weaker based on the perception of people who are currently on the losing side.”
Generals on test
Regardless of the outcome, the test of Brazil’s ex-President Bolsonaro is now storied. High-ranking military officers are bringing their cases before a civilian court for the first time since the end of the military dictatorship ( 1964-1985 ).
33 additional people have been charged in addition to Jair Bolsonaro, including past officials and generals.
The costs include “violent abolition of the political rule of law, attempted coup narrative on 8 January 2023, destruction to monuments, and participation of a legal military business,” according to Brazil’s Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court’s proceedings demonstrate how strong the institutions of Brazilian politics are, Pereira said.
However, this resilience’s causes come across as significantly contradictory.
Brazil: Ineffective but political
According to Pereira, Brazil’s court, parliament, and government interact in a “expensive and inadequate” way, which is exactly what prevents administrations from putting plans into action immediately.
No one can principle alone, no one can rule only, and it must be negotiated, he said,” and the government often lacks the majority in Congress,” he continued.
Since the first free primaries following the end of the military dictator in 1989, there hasn’t been a leader in Brazil with a stable majority in Congress. According to Pereira, a merger of the legislative and executive branches against the courts, where judges are chosen by the legislature, would be inconceivable in Brazil.
repeated presidencies
Two leaders have been ousted from business in Brazil thus far.
According to Pereira, the government’s first female president was impeached for taxes and administrative violations in 2016, and President Fernando Collor de Melo was impeached in 1992 as a result of a fraud investigation by the Congress.
Lula, Brazil’s current leader, was tried in 2018. He was imprisoned for two years for bribery.
This demonstrates that Brazilian institutions are strong, independent, and worthy of retaliating for misconduct, whether it be a right- or left-wing state, Pereira says.
Brazil’s fragmentation is growing.
This does not, Pereira told DW, mean that social fragmentation will decrease.
The amount of this split was obvious during the most recent demonstrations in Sao Paulo next weekend.
Ana Oliveira, a pro-Bolsonaro member, is of the opinion that “every right-wing politician in Brazil is prosecuted as right-wing extremists.”
She quoted a statement to the Portuguese news Folha de S. Paulo,” We live in a dictatorship.”
Another lecturer interpreted President Lula’s “vendetta” on January 8, 2023. She claimed in the same news,” This was all arranged by Lula, he was furious with Bolsonaro.”
Researchers believe Bolsonaro will run for president in 2026 despite the fact that the interviewees were completely sure that he would do so. The Portuguese Supreme Electoral Court has previously sentenced the former president to serving in politics until 2030 because of his previous convictions for abuse of power and spreading false information.
