Mensalão, the page that cannot be "turned"

This text is aimed at a specific target: those sectors of the PT (Workers' Party) and the Dilma government that once believed – and, for the most part, still seem to believe – that it is possible to "turn the page" on the Mensalão scandal now that its main targets are locked up thanks to a hasty, unilateral judicial measure, and therefore suspected of being politically motivated.

It's easy to understand the political thinking of the PT (Workers' Party) and its government: let the opponents revel now in distorting the facts and, next year, count on the electoral phenomenon that has been observed since 2005, that is, the electorate's disregard for the theory that there is more corruption in the PT than in other parties.

From mid-2005 onwards, with that bombshell interview given by then-congressman Roberto Jefferson to Folha de São Paulo that triggered the process which, apparently, was coming to an end with the execution of the sentences of those convicted, the mensalão scandal never ceased to monopolize the news for the next three thousand or so days.

However, the theory that has led President Dilma to remain silent about the untimely arrest of the imprisoned PT members, and that has caused the PT leadership to be restrained in condemning these arrests and supporting their incarcerated comrades, is that, with their misfortune, the media's persecutory odyssey is coming to an end.

This is a miscalculation. In contrast to the vision of these leading figures in the PT and the government – ​​and, very likely, with the vision of the marketing strategists who advise this government – ​​last Tuesday saw the premiere, during prime time, of the chronicle of the imprisonment of the "mensaleiros" (those involved in the Mensalão corruption scandal).

The new Mensalão soap opera now revolves around the "privileges" that the convicts are allegedly enjoying due to their political connections. Being allowed out of their cells to sunbathe, receiving visits from relatives—all this serves to keep the Mensalão scandal in the spotlight. And, while they serve their sentences, the appeals against their convictions that have not yet been judged will keep the case in the public eye.

Dilma, Lula, and the PT leadership were therefore wrong to believe that it would be possible to "turn the page" on this process.

Quite the contrary, the outcome it had has been eagerly sought by the opposition media precisely to be used as an electoral slogan next year, when they will say that, now, it's official: the PT is the most corrupt because it is the only party to have some of its biggest leaders convicted and serving sentences.

The Mensalão scandal will not be closed because the opposition media won't allow it, but one has to ask if it's a good thing that it should be.

The abuses and violations of procedural rules and jurisprudence throughout the trial of criminal case 470 and, now, in the execution of the sentences of those convicted, require reflection: can and should Brazil "turn the page" on an attack against democracy and the rule of law itself?

What will happen in this country if it is accepted that people are sent to prison without evidence and, moreover, under harsher penalties than those determined by the conviction? How can a democracy function normally knowing that the law becomes stricter or more lenient according to the political-ideological background of the accused?

While the Workers' Party (PT) and Dilma Rousseff's government talk about "turning the page" on the Mensalão scandal, in São Paulo, the former government secretary of Mayor Fernando Haddad, councilman Antonio Donato, became the victim of a maneuver by criminals involved in the tax inspector mafia during the governments of José Serra and Gilberto Kassab, who accused him of involvement in the case with the blatantly evident objective of diverting the focus of the investigations.

In this process, the Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo acts as an agent of the criminal gang and its political allies by opening an investigation against a member of the government that succeeded the government during which the criminal acts occurred.

In other words, the promiscuous relationships between the PSDB, DEM, and the media with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Judiciary remain strong, shielding the corrupt members of these parties, their political bosses in São Paulo, and even persecuting PT members for the corruption that was rampant and continues to be rampant in the PSDB-DEM governments.

No, the "page" on the Mensalão scandal will not be "turned." This will not happen because the media will not allow it, and it should not happen because this process is spurious, undemocratic, and as such, must be denounced and exposed, whatever the cost.

The argument that the PSDB and its cronies will not gain electoral advantages from a case that society shrugged off in the 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 elections, when the PT continued to grow and win key executive and legislative positions, does not negate the fact that democracy was violated and that the media will continue to hammer home this case.

Since the Mensalão scandal broke in 2005, the opposition has lost more than the ruling party, despite media efforts – while the PT lost about 8% of its federal deputies in the last election compared to 2002 (its representation fell from 91 in 2002 to 88 in 2010), the PSDB lost 24% (its representation fell from 70 to 53 deputies). But is the electoral aspect the only thing that matters?

Make no mistake, President Dilma, President Lula, and the Workers' Party: the next targets will be Lula and Fernando Haddad. Next year, the media-driven and overly politically charged Public Prosecutor's Office will likely attack the former president in the midst of the election campaign. They will accuse him of being the true mastermind behind the mensalão scandal, attempting to diminish his influence in the process.

The time has come for the PT (Workers' Party), President Dilma, and above all, Lula, to fight against this shameful, Kafkaesque, anti-democratic process. They can do this by anticipating events or by following them. In the first case, they will enjoy the advantage of taking the initiative; in the second, the disadvantage of starting the fight on the defensive.