The Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) unanimously rejected a representation that asked for the suspension of the salary of BRL 39,000 that former president Jair Bolsonaro receives from the Liberal Party (PL).
The decision, taken by the plenary of the Court on Wednesday (2), says that only the Electoral Justice has competence to analyze the request. Therefore, the representation will be sent to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
“Political parties are obliged to render accounts to the Electoral Justice, composed of the electoral courts and the TSE, and it is up to the Electoral Justice to analyze the accountability of political parties”, says the reasoning of the TCU judgment.
On July 12, about two weeks after Bolsonaro became ineligible, Lucas Rocha Furtado, Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, went to the TCU to ask that the salary paid by the PL to the former president be suspended. The argument used in the request is that public funds from the party should not be used to pay salaries to an ineligible member.
“The use of public resources to remunerate a person who has been convicted by the Judiciary, within the scope of the TSE, is, in my view, a direct and deadly violation of the principle of administrative morality”, argued Furtado in the representation.
As the TCU did not accept the request, there was no analysis of the merits of the matter. That is, if the PGR understands that the representation has support, it can make the same request to the Electoral Justice. Until this Thursday (3), the process was still at TCU.
56 minimum wages
In November last year, after the second round of elections that defeated Jair Bolsonaro, the PL, led by Valdemar Costa Neto, decided that, starting in January of this year, Bolsonaro would be honorary president of the acronym — a figure described in the party’s statute as an “affiliate of recognized importance and relevant contribution to the growth of the party nationwide”.
The honorary president is part of the national Executive and has the right to vote in the internal bodies of the PL. The salary was discussed internally and exceeds R$ 39,000, but it is not the former president’s only source of income.
When he arrived at Planalto, he was already receiving a pension from the Army, in the amount of R$ 12,000. On December 2, 2022, the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), granted Bolsonaro a retirement by the House due to the 28 years he spent as a deputy before becoming president of the Republic. This second pension is around R$33,000.
Adding the two pensions and the salary for the position of honorary president, Bolsonaro receives approximately R$ 75,000 per month – equivalent to 56 times the national minimum wage.
Source: CNN Brasil
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