Brazilian political life is not a long quiet river and it has just experienced a new upheaval.
A judge at the Supreme Court of Brazil on Monday ordered the overturning of all convictions of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for corruption, making him potentially eligible to face Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election of 2022. The judge Edson Fachin took this decision which had the effect of a bomb in Brazil by arguing that the court of Curitiba (South) which had convicted Lula in four trials was "not competent" to judge these cases.
The only credible opponent to Bolsonaro in the polls
These will now be tried in a federal court in Brasilia.
Pending these judgments, the former left-wing president (2003-2010) is restored to his political rights.
"Lula innocent", could we read on the Twitter account of the Workers' Party (PT), a party founded by Lula in 1980.
Lula, 75, had already served a year and a half in prison for corruption, from April 2018 to November 2019, before being released by collegial decision of the Supreme Court but banned from election.
At the time he was imprisoned, the former head of state was given the polls favorite for the presidential election in October 2018. Two and a half years later, in a recent poll, Lula appears to be the only one capable of beating the President Jair Bolsonaro in the next election, in 2022: 50% of those questioned said they were ready to vote for him, against 44% for the current president.