(RepublicanDaily.org) – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is facing a pessimistic future in his home country after recently being banned from running in any election for the next eight years. The conservative populist disputed the results of the country’s 2022 election to his rival and current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula,” leading to chaotic protests outside Brazilian parliament in January of this year.
This has served as grounds for Brazil’s leftist-dominated Supreme Court to take action to keep Bolsonaro as far from political power as possible and sideline him from a potential comeback. The court has accused him of “abusing” his influence and barring him from any run until 2030.
It’s not just within his own candidacy that Bolsonaro has lost traction; a recent attempt to stop a tax reform bill from Lula also fell short despite Bolsonaro’s efforts to get a coalition together to oppose it. This demonstrated his waning ability to build coalitions in South America’s largest nation. From his larger-than-life stature and media attention during the past election to a position on the outside, Bolsonaro’s star has faded fast. Bolsonaro’s fall has led some people, such as conservative mega donor Alexandre Cohim, to see space for “other people from the right” to come forward and make their voice heard.
Bolsonaro exited Brazil and headed to Florida at the beginning of this year just prior to Lula being sworn in. Bolsonaro was blamed for the January protests outside the Brazilian parliament because he disputed the election results and said that Lula’s leftist coalition would cheat and rig the voting machines to steal the election. This angered Bolsonaro’s diehard supporters.
The former president came back to Brazil in March and is in a much different position. He may even lose his base salary of $8,500 USD per month that he gets as a member of the Liberal Party. Supporters are organizing gift stores and selling memorabilia alongside fundraising drives, but it’s clear that the former President’s political fortunes are at a new low. If Bolsonaro does end up deciding to run in 2030 he’ll be 75-years-old.
Copyright 2023, RepublicanDaily.org
