“When you prevent the most popular leader in the country from running for election, the risk for Brazilian democracy is very high,” the president of the party, Gleisi Hoffmann, warned in an interview before the decision.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mr. da Silva’s predecessor, responded in an opinion article, saying that casting the country as a “democracy in ruins, in which the rule of law had given way to arbitrary measures” might be politically expedient for Mr. da Silva but was not true. The process that landed Mr. da Silva in prison shows the strength of Brazilian institutions, Mr. Cardoso argued.

“The legal proceedings in which he has been involved followed due process and have been carried out in accordance with the constitution and the rule of law,” Mr. Cardoso wrote.

Mr. da Silva was convicted of corruption and money laundering last year after he was accused of accepting a seaside condo remodeled to his liking as a bribe. An appellate court upheld the conviction in January and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. He was arrested in April after a dramatic standoff with the police while he was awaiting trial on other corruption charges.

Under the so-called Clean Slate law, put into effect in 2010 while Mr. da Silva was president, candidates are barred from running for office if a criminal conviction has been upheld on appeal.

Nonetheless, Mr. da Silva has maintained his innocence and support has poured in from leftist leaders around the globe, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which requested that the Brazilian government allow Mr. da Silva to exercise his political rights as a candidate.

The Workers’ Party registered his candidacy with the electoral court on Aug. 15. Mr. da Silva kept close tabs on his campaign from his prison cell in Curitiba, delivering handwritten instructions to his legal team, which includes Mr. Haddad.</s>Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been sentenced to 12 years in prison over bribery and corruption charges

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – Brazil's top electoral court said it would make a decision Friday, August 31 on jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's eligibility to run in October's presidential elections, a source told AFP.

The left-wing icon is leading polls but has been incarcerated since April for accepting a bribe, and could be barred from standing for a potential third term in office under Brazil's clean slate law.

Lula's case was a last-minute addition to the Superior Electoral Court's extraordinary session, where 7 magistrates in Brasilia began hearing it at 5:00 pm (2000 GMT).

The court will also decide whether or not polls leader Lula can appear in television commercials that are due to begin circulating on Friday.

Whatever the court's decision, it will be open to appeal, magistrate Henrique Neves, a former electoral court member, told AFP.

He said either party would also be able to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court over the constitutional nature of the electoral court's ruling.

But the electoral court will decide whether or not its decision is binding pending any appeal.

Lula, 72, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction firm.

He vehemently denies the accusations and has dismissed the charges as a political plot aimed at preventing him from standing in the elections.

His Workers' Party (PT) has stubbornly kept up its attempts to force Lula's name onto the ballot box, registering him as a candidate two weeks ago.

Lula has also received backing from the UN Human Rights Committee, which ruled that he cannot be disqualified from the elections as his legal appeals are ongoing.

He was found guilty in July 2017 and then lost a first appeal in January.

Nonetheless, UN committee member Olivier de Frouville told AFP that Lula should be allowed to "organize and campaign, even from jail." (READ: Brazil's Lula launches unlikely bid to retake presidency)

Brazil is technically obliged to abide by those findings, but the government in Brasilia described the committee's conclusions as "a recommendation" that is "not... legally binding."

Former trade union leader Lula is also involved in another 5 ongoing court cases.

But he is adored by millions of Brazilians due to the years of growth Brazil enjoyed under his leadership from 2003 to 2010 and he left office with a popularity rating of over 80 percent.

Despite the uncertainty over his ability to stand, Lula currently leads polls with more than double the share of his nearest challenger, the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro.

But the PT's plan B looks hopeless as former Sao Paulo governor Fernando Haddad, who will stand if Lula is barred, commands little popular support.

However, the political chaos has had wider repercussions in the country with the currency losing 20 percent of its value against the dollar since January.

Lula's social media followers remain upbeat, though. The PT launched an appeal for support on Twitter, after which a hashtag translating to "Lula on the ballot box" quickly began trending. –Rappler.com</s>A majority of Brazil's top electoral court shot down late Friday the candidacy of popular leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the country's upcoming presidential vote, telling the jailed former leader he cannot participate in October's critical election.

The vote punctuated a gripping case that has roiled the country for months, with Lula, 72, remaining the top contender among Brazilians to lead Latin America's largest economy -- despite sitting behind bars since April for accepting a bribe.

In an extraordinary session the Superior Electoral Court dashed Lula's hopes after hours of debate, with the judges voting an overwhelming 6-1 against him.

Shortly thereafter, the former president's Workers' Party (PT) vowed to "fight with all means" to secure candidacy for the leftist icon.

"We will present all appeals before the courts for the recognition of the rights of Lula provided by law and international treaties ratified by Brazil," said the party in a statement.

"We will defend Lula in the streets, with the people, because he is a candidate of hope."

Lula's case was a last-minute addition to the court session. The result was expected, but the vote of Judge Edson Fachin, the second to speak, had momentarily rekindled suspense.

He relied on Lula's recent backing from the UN Human Rights Committee, which ruled that the former leader cannot be disqualified from the elections as his legal appeals are ongoing.

But the votes that followed torpedoed the former president's bid for a third term.

Lula has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction firm.

He vehemently denies the accusations and has dismissed the charges as a political plot aimed at preventing him from standing in the elections.

The PT has stubbornly kept up its attempts to force Lula's name onto the ballot box, registering him as a candidate two weeks ago.

The court's decision would be open to appeal, magistrate Henrique Neves, a former electoral court member, told AFP.

He said either party would also be able to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court over the constitutional nature of the electoral court's ruling.

The court decision dropped late in the night but before the spots of presidential hopefuls were set to broadcast.

Lula was found guilty in July 2017 and then lost a first appeal in January.

Nonetheless, UN committee member Olivier de Frouville told AFP that Lula should be allowed to "organize and campaign, even from jail."

Brazil is technically obliged to abide by those findings, but the government in Brasilia described the committee's conclusions as "a recommendation" that is "not... legally binding."

Former trade union leader Lula is also involved in another five ongoing court cases.

But he is adored by millions of Brazilians due to the prosperity Brazil enjoyed under his leadership from 2003 to 2010.

He left office with a popularity rating of over 80 percent.

Despite the uncertainty over his ability to stand, Lula currently leads polls with more than double the share of his nearest challenger, the right-winger Jair Bolsonaro.

But the PT's second choice looks hopeless. Former Sao Paulo governor Fernando Haddad, who will stand if Lula is barred, commands little popular support.

However, the political chaos has had wider repercussions in the country with the currency losing 20 percent of its value against the dollar since January.

Lula's social media followers remain upbeat, though. The PT launched an appeal for support on Twitter, after which a hashtag translating as "Lula on the ballot box" quickly began trending.</s>Lula barred from running in October elections; Haddad will lead the PT slate

Brazil's top electoral court, TSE, on early Saturday ended the political comeback plans of former president Lula da Silva, barring him from running in elections in October. Lula is in prison having been sentenced to twelve years for corruption last April.

The six to one vote denied the request to register the popular politician, who is comfortably leading opinion polls, and also banned Lula da Silva from advertising on radio and television, as the electoral campaign period takes off September first.

His defense has ten days to appeal the TSE sentence and could also attempt to make a presentation before the Supreme Court, or Supreme Federal Tribunal.

The former president claims he is innocent and the conviction is part of a political ploy designed to keep him out of the election. This comes in spite of repeated rulings by Brazil’s court system that he was guilty of accepting favors from construction companies that had dealings with the national oil company Petrobras.

The sentence means that Lula da Silva's current vice president candidate, Fernando Haddad, ex Sao Paulo mayor, will head the PT presidential slate having Manuela D'Avila, a deputy from the Brazilian Communist Party as his running companion following on an earlier accord between the two political groups.

We are facing a very simple operation of applying an unequivocally clear law that consecrates the ineligibility of someone who has been convicted, said the lead judge on the case, Luís Roberto Barroso. I declare the ineligibility of the candidate.

The decision promises to further complicate what is already the most unpredictable election in the recent history of South America’s largest economy. The next Brazilian president will need to implement reforms to help an economy still struggling to emerge from recession and resolve a crippling budget deficit that is threatening the country’s long-term solvency.

Lula da Silva was registered by his Workers’ party, PT, as its candidate for this year's election in spite of a clean slate law that forbids people who have had a criminal conviction upheld on appeal from running for public office.

Recent polls showed him potentially transferring votes to his likely replacement, Fernando Haddad, giving the economist and former São Paulo mayor a strong chance in the election.

In the latest Datafolha poll, 49% of respondents said they would or might vote for a candidate anointed by Lula da Silva.

Outside the jail where Lula is locked up in the southern city of Curitiba, supporters gathered earlier in the evening for a vigil, lighting candles and holding placards reading Free Lula.

Following the midnight decision PT made public a release complaining that the TSE sentence rejecting Lula da Silva's candidacy was a political cassation, based on lies and arbitrary arguments, just like in the time of the dictatorship.

Despite the violence of the decision barring Lula, PT will continue fighting by all means to ensure Lula's candidacy, and anticipated it will be presenting before all the courts to have Lula's political rights, as established by law and international agreements ratified by Brazil, recognized.

The former president defense's team argued that the TSE must follow on the United Nations Human Rights Commission statement recommending that Lula be allowed to participate in the coming October election.

However Brazil's Attorney General Raquel Dodge said that the UN Human Rights Commission recommendation could not be applied in this case, since Brazil never promulgated the international accord which mandates submission to that UN body.

It was the defense of human rights that motivated the Clean Slate bill in first place. It was a citizenship initiative, following massive demonstrations of the civil society, approved by Congress and sanctioned by then president Lula da Silva, said Dodge.

The Attorney General added that the Clean Slate bill supports democracy and good governance, and this specific case, contrary to violating fundamental rights, it protects them”.</s>Brazil’s top electoral court has barred jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in the upcoming presidential election.

The Supreme Electoral Court ruled on Friday that Lula da Silva, who is serving a 12-year sentence for a corruption conviction, cannot run for a third term, eliminating the front-runner ahead of the October’s election.

“I declare the ineligibility of the candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva based on the first article, subsection one, letter A, items one and six, of the law 64 of 90 of the Clean Slate law and as a consequence, I reject his registration as a candidate to compete for the presidency in the 2018 elections,” said Luís Roberto Barroso, the judge presiding over the case.

Brazil's top electoral court also barred Lula from taking part in any election campaign advertising on radio and television.

Lula was the 35th president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011, with an approval rating of above 80 percent, and has been serving a 12-year prison sentence since April after being found guilty of money laundering and corruption. The 72-year-old veteran politician has dismissed his conviction as part of a plot to prevent him from returning to power.

Brazil’s most popular politician has been leading early opinion polls. Lula’s lawyers have said they would appeal the supreme court’s decision. Under Brazilian electoral law of Clean Slate, politicians are not authorized to run for office within eight years of being found guilty of a crime.

Lula’s Workers’ party, PT, registered its founder as its presidential candidate for the October 7 vote, arguing that he is innocent and the victim of political persecution.

“When you prevent the most popular leader in the country from running for election, the risk for Brazilian democracy is very high,” the president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann, said in an interview before the court ruling.

Running a campaign largely from his prison cell, the leftist leader has been able to garner nearly 40 percent of prospective votes for October’s presidential election, according to the latest polls. His nearest rival, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, enjoys 19 percent of voter support.

The Workers’ party has until September 17 to replace Lula with another candidate or forfeit the presidential bid. The party is widely expected to cast Lula’s vice president, Fernando Haddad, as his replacement.

In mid-August, a United Nations panel ruled that Lula cannot be disqualified from the election because his legal appeals are underway. The Brazilian government, however, described the committee’s conclusions as a recommendation, saying it was not legally binding.

Lula is convicted of taking $1.2 million in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in return for granting the company public contracts. He also faces another six trials for other corruption charges, but has denied any wrongdoing.</s>Brazil's top electoral court said it would make a decision Friday on jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's eligibility to run in October's presidential elections, a source told AFP.

The left-wing icon is leading polls but has been incarcerated since April for accepting a bribe, and could be barred from standing for a potential third term in office under Brazil's clean slate law.

Lula's case was a last-minute addition to the Superior Electoral Court's extraordinary session, due to begin at 2:30pm (1730 GMT) in Brasilia.

The court will also decide whether or not Lula can appear in television commercials that are due to begin circulating on Friday.

Lula, 72, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction firm.

He vehemently denies the accusations and has dismissed the charges as a political plot aimed at preventing him from standing in the elections.

Lula has received backing from the UN Human Rights Committee, which two weeks ago ruled that he cannot be disqualified from the elections as his legal appeals are ongoing.

Committee member Olivier de Frouville told AFP that Lula should be allowed to "organize and campaign, even from jail."

Brazil is technically obliged to abide by those findings, but the government in Brasilia described the committee's conclusions as "a recommendation" that is "not... legally binding."

Despite the uncertainty over his ability to stand, Lula currently leads polls with more than double the share of his nearest challenger, the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula retains great popularity in Brazil after a successful spell in the presidency from 2003-10, but his Workers' Party's plan B looks hopeless as former Sao Paulo governor Fernando Haddad, who will stand if Lula is barred, commands little popular support.

However, the political chaos has had wider repercussions in the country with the currency losing 20 percent of its value against the dollar since January.

Lula's social media followers remain upbeat, though, and the Workers' Party launched an appeal for support on Twitter, after which a hashtag translating to "Lula on the ballot box" quickly began trending.</s>Brazil's highest electoral court on Friday night ruled that Luiz Inacia Lula da Silva, the popular Leftist former president who is serving a 12-year prison term for corruption, cannot stand in October's presidential election.

Mr da Silva, 72, has been incarcerated since April for accepting a bribe, but remained the front runner among Brazilians to win the election.

But barring dramatic events - the judges can reconsider their decision after the vote of the last two magistrates - the former president, who is best known as Lula, cannot run for a third term.

In an extraordinary session the Superior Electoral Court dashed Mr da Silva's hopes after six hours of debate, with the result coming in at 4-1 before the last two judges cast their votes - enough to seal his fate.

Moments later his Workers' Party (PT) vowed to "fight with all means to secure his candidacy".</s>BRASILIA: Brazil's top electoral court will open debate on Friday afternoon whether jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be barred from running in this year's presidential election due to a corruption conviction.

The seven-member court was expected to declare Lula ineligible, removing a cloud hanging over Brazil's most uncertain election in decades. It was not clear if a ruling would come Friday or next week.

Lula, Brazil's most popular politician, is serving a 12-year sentence for a corruption conviction. His Workers Party registered him as its presidential candidate for the Oct. 7 vote anyway, saying he is innocent.

Lula is likely ineligible for office under Brazil's "Clean Slate" law, which prohibits candidates from running if they have convictions that have been upheld on appeal.

Despite his conviction and several graft cases pending against him, Lula leads the race by a long stretch, with 39 percent of voter support, according to pollster Datafolha. His nearest rival, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, has 19 percent.

Ads by the Workers Party calling on Brazilians to vote for Lula began to appear on social media on Friday, and will be shown on television as of Saturday when the race enters its final 35 days of campaigning.

If Lula is barred, his running mate Fernando Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo, will head the ticket hoping to inherit the bulk of Lula's votes. The party has until Sept. 17 to swap their names on the ballot.

The court could also rule on Friday on a request by the conservative Partido Novo to exclude Lula from the television and radio ads campaign.

The court on Thursday rejected another request by opponents of Lula to exclude his name from opinion polls until his eligibility has been decided.</s>Brazil’s top electoral court has ruled that jailed former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cannot run as a candidate in the presidential election because of his corruption conviction.

Judges voted against his running in October’s ballot by a majority of six votes to one in the seven-member court.

Lula, 72, was leading in polls ahead of the vote despite serving a 12-year jail term for accepting a bribe.

His legal team has said they will appeal against the court’s decision.

Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT) later responded to the court’s decision in a statement, saying it would “fight by all means” for Lula’s candidacy.

“We will present all appeals before the courts for the recognition of the rights of Lula provided by law and international treaties ratified by Brazil,” the statement said, adding: “We will defend Lula in the streets, with the people.”

Lula’s conviction for money laundering and corruption was upheld in January. In Brazil, no one convicted of a crime upheld on appeal can run for office.

However, exceptions have been made to the law before.

In declaring Lula ineligible to stand on Friday, one judge said: “What is at stake here today is the equality of all citizens before the law and the Constitution.”

Lula was convicted of receiving a renovated beachfront apartment worth some 3.7m reais ($1.1m; £790,000) as a bribe by engineering firm OAS.

He denied wrongdoing and said his conviction was part of a plot to prevent him returning to power.

Lula reportedly chose Fernando Haddad, former mayor of São Paulo, to run for the PT should he be prevented from doing so. (Excerpts from BBC)</s>Sao Paulo, Brazil - The decision of Brazil's top electoral court to bar former president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva from contesting the country's polls in October has forced his party - and a large chunk of the Brazilian electorate - into a rethink.

After a marathon session, which began on Friday and concluded in the early hours of Saturday, the Superior Electoral Court deemed Lula's candidacy to be ineligible under Brazil's "Clean Slate" law, which forbids those with appeals court convictions from running for office.

The 72-year-old, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption and money laundering, has been a clear leader in all opinion polls held so far in the run-up to the October 7 elections.

His leftist Workers' Party, which has promised to "fight through all means to secure his candidacy", is expected to file an extraordinary appeal to the Federal Supreme Court this weekend.

Ricardo Ribeiro, a political analyst at MCM Consultores, told Al Jazeera that the success of the court appeal depends on which judge hears the case.

"If it goes to [Supreme Court Justice] Ricardo Lewandowski, there is a chance that he will grant an injunction in favour of Lula's candidacy," said Ribeiro.

What happens in Lula's absence?

Still, the Workers' Party is expected to decide on a new candidate to replace Lula - while its Federal Supreme Court request is pending.

According to the electoral court decision, the party has 10 days from Saturday to nominate a new presidential candidate, with all signs pointing towards Fernando Haddad, Lula's running mate and a former mayor of Sao Paulo.

A party meeting is scheduled for Monday in the city of Curitiba, when Haddad's candidacy is likely to be confirmed.

If Lula's Supreme Court appeal is successful, the Workers' Party will still be able to put the former president back on the ballot.

If not, the party will face the uphill task of transferring Lula's votes to Haddad, a politician who is not instantly recognisable around the country and currently polls at just four percent.

"It's the only strategy available to them," said Ribeiro. "But Lula's popularity means there is a good chance it will be successful."

Indeed, Haddad can take heart in the fact that recent polls show 31 percent of the electorate would vote for any candidate endorsed by Lula, which would be more than enough to propel him into a potential second-round runoff with Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right candidate with the Social Liberty Party.

With Lula's removal from the presidential race, Bolsonaro, a former army captain and Rio de Janeiro congressman since 1991, has emerged as a frontrunner.

Due to the long-perceived inevitability of Lula's candidacy being blocked by the electoral courts, major pollsters have been conducting two different scenarios: one which includes the former president, and one without him.

In opinion polls without Lula, Bolsonaro appears ahead of all competitors, with a vote share varying between 20 and 22 percent.

Bolsonaro has managed to present himself as a credible outsider candidate, despite a track record of homophobic, racist and sexist statements.

The far-right politician has a belligerent stance on crime, declaring in a recent TV interview that police officers who "kill 10, 15, or 20 people" should be rewarded and not punished.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist and professor of international relations at Rio de Janeiro State University, stressed that for a significant portion of voters, "Bolsonaro has been able to establish himself as the spokesperson for the feelings of anger and revolt which many Brazilians feel today".

Bolsonaro is popular among young, educated, middle-class male voters. While his support appears to have hit a plateau, it has not yet dropped, suggesting that he has a solid voter base, which is likely to push him into the expected runoff, scheduled to take place on October 28.

To avoid a second round of voting, a candidate would need to win more than 50 percent of the votes on October 7.

In six of the seven presidential elections held since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, the two candidates with the most votes have come from the centre-left Workers' Party and the centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party - a trend set to be bucked in the upcoming election.

Geraldo Alckmin, the Social Democrat candidate who is seen as "market-friendly", is severely lagging behind in the polls, despite having the support of a vast coalition of centrist and centre-right parties.

Alckmin is also considered as the candidate of the establishment, a particularly damning title given that the current government, under President Michel Temer, is hugely unpopular.

Alckmin's broad coalition may yet work in his favour, benefitting from the start of election campaign messages broadcasted on television and radio.

In Brazil, free airtime is distributed among the parties in accordance with their number of seats in the lower house of Congress, with Alckmin's numerous alliances giving him the lion's share.

In each commercial block of 12 minutes and 30 seconds, the Social Democrat candidate will be allotted five minutes and 32 seconds. In comparison, Bolsonaro will receive just eight seconds.

"Alckmin's biggest opponent isn't the Workers’ Party, as it has been in years past," said Santoro.
The Superior Electoral Court of Brazil rules that former President and Workers' Party (PT) presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cannot run in the election because he does not qualify under the Clean Slate law. The Court also ruled that PT cannot run political ads featuring Lula.