A Brazilian federal judge has moved to block the controversial swearing-in of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as chief of staff to President Dilma Rousseff, in the latest twist in the country’s deepening political crisis.
“Lula,” as the two-time former president is known, was sworn into the Cabinet post earlier Thursday amid heated protests by opponents, who say the move is an attempt to shield him from a corruption investigation.
Under Brazilian law, senior political figures can only be tried in the Supreme Federal Tribunal, meaning if Lula is chief of staff, any eventual prosecution would effectively be delayed.
The swearing-in took place amid chaotic scenes in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, with protesters at the ceremony shouting “shame” while government supporters sang “Lula” to the tune of a football chant.
However, a federal judge in Brasilia, Itagiba Catta Preta Neto, swiftly issued an injunction to preliminarily suspend Lula’s swearing-in on the grounds his appointment prevented the “free exercise of the Judiciary Power, the operation of the Federal Police and of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.”
State-run news agency Agencia Brasil reported that the Brazilian attorney general has said that he will appeal the judge’s decision.
Mass demonstrations erupt
Lula’s swearing-in took place a day after mass protests calling on Rousseff to resign, following another judge’s release of an explosive secretly recorded phone conversation Wednesday.
Rousseff’s opponents say the call suggests she appointed Lula to the Cabinet post to help give him greater immunity from federal prosecutors investigating him for alleged bribery and money laundering.
Rousseff has denied the allegations, saying there is an innocent explanation for the conversation.
Rousseff’s Workers’ Party has been engulfed by a scandal involving Lula, her predecessor as president and close political ally, who is under criminal investigation for alleged bribery and money laundering involving state-run oil company Petrobras — an operation known as “Car Wash.”
Amid dramatic scenes at Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony, three people were arrested when pro- and anti-government factions clashed in front of the presidential palace in Brasilia and had to be dispersed by military police, state-run news agency Agencia Brasil reported.
Judge releases tapes
Public anger turned to outrage Wednesday when, in the wake of the announcement of Lula’s new role, the uncompromising federal judge overseeing the “Car Wash” investigation released secretly recorded conversations between Rousseff and Lula, which he said showed they were apparently trying to influence or gain assistance from courts and prosecutors in Lula’s favor.
In one exchange, relating to Lula signing the “term of office” paperwork necessary to assume the post, Rousseff says, “We’ll only use it in case of emergency.”
Critics said that showed Lula’s appointment had been motivated by a desire to protect him from prosecution, giving him a trump card against investigators.
Rousseff’s Cabinet responded by releasing a copy of the document under discussion in the call — the certificate that Lula would be required to sign to assume the role — and her office said the phrase in question simply referred to the eventuality that it would be used if he did not attend the swearing-in ceremony in person.
In a statement, she slammed Judge Sergio Moro’s release of the recordings, calling it an affront to the rights of the presidency and a flagrant violation of the law and the constitution.
In a dispatch accompanying his release of the nearly 50 audio recordings, Moro noted that it appeared that Lula “already knew, or at least suspected, that he was being recorded by the Federal Police, compromising the spontaneity and credibility of several of the dialogues.”
The developments have only fueled political tensions in the recession-hit country, as it gears up to host the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of major Brazilian cities Wednesday night, demanding Rousseff step down. Police used rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters who were throwing cans outside the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, state-run news media reported.
The demonstrations followed mass protests Sunday in which hundreds of thousands turned out in cities across the country, demanding Rousseff’s resignation.
Rousseff: Lula ‘my dearest colleague’
Lula, a former union leader who helped found Brazil’s Workers’ Party in 1980, served as the country’s president from 2003 to 2010. He left office with a 90% approval rating, delivering the reins to his chief of staff and handpicked successor, Rousseff.
At the swearing-in ceremony Thursday, Rousseff introduced Lula as her “dearest colleague” and “a great political leader” with the “incomparable capacity to look in the eyes of our people and to understand these people and want the best for these people.”
At a news conference Wednesday, she praised the two-time president for taking on the role to help her administration, which is struggling in the face of the longest recession since the 1930s and low presidential approval ratings.
“He comes with his knowledge of the country, of the needs of the country and his commitment. … It is going to be a huge boost for my government,” she said.
Christopher Sabatini, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, said that while Rousseff was trying to sell Lula’s appointment as driven by the need to bring his expertise into the Cabinet, “the timing of it does not smell right.”
“The risk is that doubling down on this strategy is only going to really stain this administration even more,” he told CNN.
Nearly two weeks ago, federal police raided Lula’s home and took in the 70-year-old for questioning on suspicion he benefited from a bribery and money laundering scheme.
Separately, state prosecutors in Sao Paulo charged him with money laundering and requested preventive detention.
Impeachment proceedings against Rousseff have already been opened in Congress over alleged attempts to hide budget shortfalls before the 2014 elections.