Gilmar Mendes and electoral corruption

The President of the Superior Electoral Court, Minister Gilmar Mendes, one of the leading figures in the institutional coup, declared that the prohibition of corporate donations could lead to fraud and slush funds. However, fraud and slush funds have always existed through corporate campaign financing. In reality, this formulation is a flimsy justification for the return of this type of financing as part of a political reform by the elites.

On the other hand, in a statement to the federal court, advertising executive João Santana helped to expose the cynicism of the opposition, which seeks to conceal the use of undeclared funds as the main financial basis of its campaigns. He stated that "98% of campaigns in Brazil use undeclared funds" and that "undeclared funds are one of the main, if not the main, centers of gravity of Brazilian politics."

This viewpoint aligns with the position of the Coalition for Democratic Political Reform and Clean Elections, an alliance of over one hundred social movement entities, including the CNBB (National Conference of Brazilian Bishops), OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) (in the previous administration), MCCE (Movement to Combat Electoral Corruption), Platform of Social Movements for the Reform of the Political System, Contag (National Confederation of Agricultural Workers), UNE (National Union of Students), CTB (Brazilian Workers' Central), and CUT (Unified Workers' Central). This alliance considers the influence of economic power in the electoral process to be the main cause of the degradation of democracy and the root of the political crisis we are facing. This was the reason that led the OAB to file a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality against corporate campaign financing in the Supreme Federal Court.

The influence of economic power not only paves the way for electoral corruption but also captures the political system. Through a "magic trick," money transforms the minority into the majority in the National Congress. The minority of society, made up of urban and rural business owners, bankers, and contractors, becomes the vast majority of parliamentarians. As a result, their decisions do not meet the desires of the majority of the population, creating a loss of credibility in the current political system.

A true democracy ensures that every political segment has the conditions to defend its points of view and guarantees, through the proportional electoral system, its political representation. Therefore, the business sector, like others, has every right to defend its interests. What is unacceptable is the use of the power of money to corrupt and impose a political representation that is detached from the aspirations of the majority of society.

Elsewhere in his statements, Minister Gilmar Mendes affirms, "We took a leap in the dark by choosing to end private donations without changing the electoral system." And that "in November we will need to discuss a reform, including of this legislation."

It is worth remembering Gilmar Mendes' role in the issue of corporate campaign financing. From the beginning of the debates on the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality against campaign financing by companies, the Minister opposed it, requesting a review of the process to prevent the conclusion of the vote. His intention was to ensure that his ally Eduardo Cunha could pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the constitutionalization of corporate financing.

To that end, he engaged in overt maneuvering and prevented the final vote on the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) for another year and five months. He only allowed the process to be taken to the full Supreme Court when he received assurances that the bill guaranteeing corporate campaign financing would be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration. A revealing fact is that those who claimed to be defenders of ethics, especially members of the PSDB and DEM parties, voted overwhelmingly in favor of corporate campaign financing. This decision was not implemented because it was vetoed by President Dilma.

In the vote on the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), only Ministers Celso de Mello and Teori Zavascki sided with Gilmar Mendes. The argument that corporate campaign financing is unconstitutional was overwhelmingly victorious, with the votes of the other nine ministers.

Minister Gilmar Mendes' statements reveal the true objective of the coup plotters: to carry out a "political reform" aimed at deepening the elitist character of the Brazilian state. This proposition was recently expressed by former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

This reform aims to ensure the return of corporate campaign financing and, linked to this, introduce the district electoral system, eliminating the democratic proportional system.

The proportional representation system was the result of the struggle of workers, especially Europeans, in the 19th century, for political representation that expressed the interests of diverse social segments. It was adopted in Brazil by the 30 revolution and maintained in all subsequent constitutions. It is important to note that the military dictatorship attempted to eliminate it by adopting the mixed-member proportional representation system, but failed.

It is worth noting that the open-list proportional representation system entails several distortions. However, the solution is not to abandon it and implement democratic regression, but rather to improve it, as proposed by the Coalition in its political reform project.

In addition to adopting a mixed proportional electoral system, this reform does not create mechanisms to ensure significant representation of women, does not guarantee means to expand direct democracy, and seeks to eliminate the freedom of party organization with the adoption of the barrier clause and the prohibition of proportional coalitions.

Implementing a democratic political reform is a crucial step towards deepening democracy. However, we will not achieve this goal without a new composition of Congress, which will only come about through broad popular mobilization.

At this moment, what is facing the Brazilian people is not the possibility of progress, but the risk of a profound regression, which, in part, is already occurring. Thus, to guarantee further progress, the immediate task is to secure the gains already achieved.

Some political and social movement segments argue that convening an exclusive Constituent Assembly could pave the way for new democratic advances.

This alternative raises a series of consequences, the most serious being that it could pave the way for the right wing to dismantle the 88 Constitution and its democratic, economic, and social achievements.

On the other hand, this proposal only unifies sectors of the left, and even then, not all of them. In this context, not all of the left is capable of stopping the offensive from the right.

It becomes indispensable to unite broad sectors of society that, in alliance with popular sectors, can reverse the conservative offensive. To this end, it is essential to regain the support of middle-class sectors of the population who are outraged by the fact that the constitution is being torn up, the democratic rule of law is being trampled upon, and the gains of workers, women, Black people, and minorities are being undermined.

We will only be able to advance the democratic process further down the line if we stop the right wing from encroaching on the gains already achieved. The left has a fundamental role to play in forming the unifying core of this great political alliance in defense of legality and democracy.

At this moment, the democratic struggle must turn to the defense of legality. To achieve victory, which is not easy, it is essential to present a political solution capable of appealing to broad segments of society.

Recent research indicates that large segments of the population consider holding elections to be the best alternative for addressing the crisis. For this very reason, the alternative of holding a plebiscite to elect the president is gaining increasingly widespread support.

This alternative opens up the real possibility of winning over broad segments of society, thus creating an effective path that can lead to victory against the coup and for democracy.