Bolsonaro with his son, Jair Renan, and governor Jorginho Mello (photo: Reproduction)
The Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina (Alesc) approved this Wednesday (24) the title of Citizen of Santa Catarina to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The honor, however, contradicts a previous law, approved by the State Legislature itself in 2020.
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Proposed by then state deputy Bruno Souza (PL) and sanctioned by former governor Carlos Moisés (Republicans), the legislation prevents the honor from being granted to anyone who is ineligible.
Bruno Souza’s law targeted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). At the time, it was Lula who was ineligible, condemned by Lava-Jato. But the conviction – and ineligibility – were annulled by the Supreme Court.
Lula had already received the title of Citizen of Santa Catarina in 2008, but in 2020 there was a mobilization of deputies at Alesc to try to cancel the honor. It was in this context that Bruno Souza moved the proposal and, with the twists and turns that politics took, ended up making “Santa Catarina citizenship” unfeasible – at least legally – for Bolsonaro.
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The law approved by deputies this Wednesday was removed from the agenda last year, so that the legality of the honor could be better assessed. This year, the project passed through the Constitution and Justice Committee and the legal prohibition was ignored by the rapporteur, deputy Ana Campagnolo (PL).
With approval in plenary, the project will still undergo final drafting before being sent to governor Jorginho Mello (PL) for sanction. Despite the legal obstacle, the governor must sanction him – and the tendency is for Bolsonaro’s title as a Santa Catarina citizen to end up in court, for violating the law.
