Brazil's Supreme Court will rule Wednesday on whether former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can join the government of his protegee, President Dilma Rousseff, whose own job hangs by a thread.
The justices will decide the fate of Lula's bid to become chief of staff three days after the lower house of Congress voted to send impeachment proceedings against Rousseff to the Senate.
Rousseff had given Lula, her predecessor and mentor, the ministerial job on March 16, betting on his political prowess to save her from impeachment.
But a Supreme Court judge temporarily blocked the appointment, citing suspicions that it was a bid to shield Lula from lower level courts in connection with a massive corruption case at state oil giant Petrobras.
In Brazil, lawmakers and ministers can only be tried by the Supreme Court.
Lula, a left-wing icon and founder of the ruling Workers' Party, is accused of accepting a seaside apartment and a country home as bribes from construction companies caught up in the multibillion-dollar graft scandal that has upended Brazilian politics.
Rousseff had enlisted the charismatic leader to spearhead an intense lobbying campaign for votes in the lower house ahead of its impeachment vote. Blocked from government, Lula pressed her case anyway, setting himself up in a Brasilia hotel -- but without success.
- Power duo in trouble -
For Lula, the court decision will be more symbolic than practical, since the initial injunction against him has already done its damage in the run-up to the impeachment vote.
"I think that at this stage, whether or not Lula enters the government won't make a big difference," said political analyst Sergio Praca.
"A lot of things have happened these past few weeks and the fact that he was not authorized to take up his post caused a shock, a surprise, that had giant consequences" for Rousseff's government, he added.
Now for Lula, the bigger issue will be whether his political career can survive to elections in 2018, when he hopes to return to the presidency.
Lula made three unsuccessful presidential bids from 1989 to 1998, each time chipping away at the establishment parties and the idea that a poor, uneducated labor leader could never be president of Brazil.
The fourth time, in 2002, he succeeded, taking office on January 1, 2003. He was reelected and left office in 2010.
Lula's popularity and the success of the economy during a period of high commodity prices helped him ride out numerous corruption scandals plaguing the Workers' Party.
When he stepped down after two terms, he basked in 80 percent popularity ratings and helped Rousseff, his hand-picked successor, to take his place.
Now, even if the court does allow him to enter her governmnet, his stint may last barely weeks.
The Senate is to decide on opening a trial in mid-May at which point Rousseff -- charged with illegal accounting tricks used to mask budget deficits -- would have to step aside for 180 days, replaced by her vice president Michel Temer.
After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be enough to oust her permanently.
Already, Temer, who turned on Rousseff to support impeachment, is assembling a future cabinet of his own -- and Lula would clearly not be welcome.
- 'The snake is alive' -
But Lula remains a formidable force in Brazilian politics.
"The snake is still alive," the former president said recently.
Despite his legal troubles, a survey by polling firm Datafolha on April 10 found that 21 percent of Brazilians would vote for him in the first round of the 2018 presidential election, making him the frontrunner.
Marina Silva, an environmentalist who finished third in the 2014 election, came a close second in the poll with 19 percent followed by center-right opposition leader Aecio Neves with 17 percent.
Temer, of the centrist PMDB party, is far behind with between one and two percent of vote intentions.
Brazil’s Supreme Court will rule Wednesday on whether former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can join the government of his protegee, President Dilma Rousseff, whose own job hangs by a thread.
The justices will decide the fate of Lula’s bid to become chief of staff three days after the lower house of Congress voted to send impeachment proceedings against Rousseff to the Senate.
Rousseff had given Lula, her predecessor and mentor, the ministerial job on March 16, betting on his political prowess to save her from impeachment.
But a Supreme Court judge temporarily blocked the appointment, citing suspicions that it was a bid to shield Lula from lower level courts in connection with a massive corruption case at state oil giant Petrobras.
In Brazil, lawmakers and ministers can only be tried by the Supreme Court.
Lula, a left-wing icon and founder of the ruling Workers’ Party, is accused of accepting a seaside apartment and a country home as bribes from construction companies caught up in the multibillion-dollar graft scandal that has upended Brazilian politics.
Rousseff had enlisted the charismatic leader to spearhead an intense lobbying campaign for votes in the lower house ahead of its impeachment vote. Blocked from government, Lula pressed her case anyway, setting himself up in a Brasilia hotel — but without success.
– Power duo in trouble –
For Lula, the court decision will be more symbolic than practical, since the initial injunction against him has already done its damage in the run-up to the impeachment vote.
“I think that at this stage, whether or not Lula enters the government won’t make a big difference,” said political analyst Sergio Praca.
“A lot of things have happened these past few weeks and the fact that he was not authorized to take up his post caused a shock, a surprise, that had giant consequences” for Rousseff’s government, he added.
Now for Lula, the bigger issue will be whether his political career can survive to elections in 2018, when he hopes to return to the presidency.
Lula made three unsuccessful presidential bids from 1989 to 1998, each time chipping away at the establishment parties and the idea that a poor, uneducated labor leader could never be president of Brazil.
The fourth time, in 2002, he succeeded, taking office on January 1, 2003. He was reelected and left office in 2010.
Lula’s popularity and the success of the economy during a period of high commodity prices helped him ride out numerous corruption scandals plaguing the Workers’ Party.
When he stepped down after two terms, he basked in 80 percent popularity ratings and helped Rousseff, his hand-picked successor, to take his place.
Now, even if the court does allow him to enter her governmnet, his stint may last barely weeks.
The Senate is to decide on opening a trial in mid-May at which point Rousseff — charged with illegal accounting tricks used to mask budget deficits — would have to step aside for 180 days, replaced by her vice president Michel Temer.
After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be enough to oust her permanently.
Already, Temer, who turned on Rousseff to support impeachment, is assembling a future cabinet of his own — and Lula would clearly not be welcome.
– ‘The snake is alive’ –
But Lula remains a formidable force in Brazilian politics.
“The snake is still alive,” the former president said recently.
Despite his legal troubles, a survey by polling firm Datafolha on April 10 found that 21 percent of Brazilians would vote for him in the first round of the 2018 presidential election, making him the frontrunner.
Marina Silva, an environmentalist who finished third in the 2014 election, came a close second in the poll with 19 percent followed by center-right opposition leader Aecio Neves with 17 percent.
Temer, of the centrist PMDB party, is far behind with between one and two percent of vote intentions.
