“And I’m going to make an appeal, every person who voted for Lula, in 1989, in 1994, in 1998, in 2006, in 2010 and in 2022, has to vote for Boulos for mayor of São Paulo”, added the President of the Republic .
The president’s speech provoked immediate reactions, with opponents accusing him of breaking the electoral law by campaigning in advance in favor of Boulos, who is a federal deputy for the PSOL in São Paulo.
Other pre-candidates who oppose the psolist asked the Public Ministry to investigate the case, such as Marina Helena (Novo), Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil) and the current mayor, Ricardo Nunes (MDB).
Even within the allied base there are complaints: the president of the MDB, federal deputy Baleia Rossi (SP), accused Lula of using “the government structure” to carry out a “campaign against the MDB, a party with three ministers” in the president’s government .
Even with Lula saying that his voters “have to vote” for Boulos, minister Paulo Pimenta (Secom) says that this type of “expression of support” is covered by the Electoral Law.
“The President’s demonstration cannot be classified as early electoral propaganda, or even (that) would have the scope to influence the elections.”, he said to the Estadão, by text message. “What occurred was a manifestation of political support, mention of the position to be contested and the government platform to be defended, in accordance with article 36-A of Law 9,504, of 1997 (the Elections Law). Electoral legislation allows us to talk about all of this. The speech is framed within the permissions of the law and not within the prohibitions. There was no prohibited electoral conduct”, said Pimenta. “The president’s speech does not depart from the legal authorization existing in article 36-A of the Elections Law, which allows the free expression of political projects, as well as the dissemination of messages praising pre-candidates.”
