RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Presiding Judge of the Second Federal Court of Appeals, Reis Friede, overturned a decision by Federal Judge Frana Elizabeth Mendes, of Rio de Janeiro’s 26th Federal District Court, that granted a period of 96 hours for President Jair Bolsonaro and the President of the National Congress, Davi Alcolumbre, to decide on the transfer of federal election campaign funds to the fight against the coronavirus.
The electoral campaign fund, of almost R$2 billion (US$400 million) was created to fund political parties in their campaigns in the municipal elections this coming October.
Judge Reis Friede held that even though there is a great need for funds to fight the pandemic, the lower court had no power to invade the legislative and executive spheres of government, and the order would have created a national crisis.
In her ruling, the magistrate had argued that in a country “so punished by the chronic inefficiency of the health system even in a normal situation,” there can be no frozen resources for future and uncertain use in sponsoring electoral campaigns.
The judge further mentions that Brazil is discussing the allocation of resources for the Covid-19 fight on slightly more than two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while in other countries, as in the United Kingdom and Spain, the aid amounts to as much as 17 percent.