Popular, Barbosa is acting more and more like a candidate.
Despite denying any intention to run for public office in 2014, the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Joaquim Barbosa, has resumed behaving like a potential presidential candidate; yesterday, while visiting the Court of Justice of São Paulo, he posed for photos with admirers, such as the cartoonist Maurício de Souza; Barbosa also hoped that President Dilma would invite him to Nelson Mandela's funeral, but this time the phone didn't ring and he missed the opportunity to speak on an international platform.
247 - In the 2012 municipal elections, for the first time, the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Joaquim Barbosa, adopted actions typical of a potential candidate, when he began posing for photos with admirers. Yesterday, this behavior was repeated when, during a visit to the Court of Justice of São Paulo, he also appeared smiling, obliging, and always available for another photo, both inside and outside the institution.
Barbosa is acting like a candidate, just as he did in conducting Criminal Action 470, taking advantage of the November 15th holiday, the day of the Proclamation of the Republic, to order the first arrests. However, he categorically denies any intention of running for president. This weekend, he used journalist Lauro Jardim's column, Radar, to guarantee that he will not be a candidate (read more). here).
The problem is that his promises cannot be taken literally, and the fact is that, with each passing day, Joaquim Barbosa is consolidating himself as the only opposition alternative to try and secure a second round in 2014. According to Datafolha, President Dilma Rousseff currently has 47% of the voting intentions, compared to 19% for Aécio Neves and 11% for Eduardo Campos – in other words, she maintains a comfortable 17-point lead over her opponents.
This means that Barbosa is even more important today to the forces fighting the PT's cycle of power than he was in leading the Criminal Action 470. His potential 15% – or even more – in a possible presidential race could be the difference needed to guarantee a second round.
Aware of the symbolism of power, Barbosa had hoped to be included in the presidential delegation that took all living former presidents – José Sarney, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Fernando Collor – to Nelson Mandela's funeral, at the invitation of President Dilma Rousseff. According to a statement he made, Mandela represents "hope for all victims of injustice, anywhere in the world."
However, according to journalist Mônica Bergamo (read more here), the phone didn't ring. This time, Barbosa missed another opportunity to shine in front of the cameras. Perhaps because his political moves are becoming increasingly explicit.
(read also article by Helena Stephanowitz(from Rede Brasil Atual, regarding the effect of Joaquim Barbosa's actions on the Judiciary)