On this Saturday night (19), the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) suspended the Senate campaign in Paraná by former Lava Jato prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol (New Party). The interim injunction, signed by rapporteur minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques, is valid until the TSE meets to discuss the candidate's ineligibility. According to lawyer Guilherme Gonçalves, an expert in electoral law, the suspension indicates that Dallagnol will likely be declared ineligible.
"From a practical standpoint and considering similar situations, I assess that it will only be a matter of time for the plenary to confirm the decision and recognize that the candidate is, in fact, ineligible," the expert states.
According to Gonçalves, the injunction was granted as part of a legal measure called anticipatory recourse protection, meaning it accelerated the effects of a decision before the final judgment. This implies that rapporteur minister Floriano Marques deemed that the decision of the Paraná Regional Electoral Court (TRE-PR), which considered Dallagnol eligible, contradicted the TSE's 2023 ruling. However, as it is an individual injunction, it could not deny the candidate's registration.
In 2023, the TSE revoked the former prosecutor's candidacy registration due to fraud against the Clean Slate Law (Law 134/2010). With the injunction, Dallagnol cannot receive or use public funds from the Party Fund or Electoral Fund, nor can he campaign in events, radio, television, or participate in debates.
"Given that only a collegial decision can reach this point, the minister suspended the campaign because it is financed with public resources. And since his ineligibility is almost certain, the risk of spending public money on the campaign justifies the suspension," he explains.
Marques ordered that the individual decision be submitted to the entire plenary for review, which should happen before the first turn, according to Gonçalves: "I would say it is very likely that Deltan's name will not even appear on the ballot on the first turn," he adds. If the other TSE ministers confirm the injunction, it signals that the ex-prosecutor's ineligibility is imminent.
If Dallagnol runs with a validated registration and his ineligibility is only recognized afterward, his votes would be counted, and in the case of victory, there would be a new election. "This reason was also present in Minister Floriano's decision: the harm caused by a clearly unviable candidacy, in the court's language, an obvious ineligibility, only continuing to generate an environment of a new election," he concludes.