Eduardo Cunha obtains 31,634 votes in a failed attempt to return to the Chamber, but his candidacy remains rejected

The former president of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha (Republicanos-MG), won 31,634 votes at the polls this Sunday (4) in his second unsuccessful attempt to return to the Legislative House since his mandate was revoked in 2016.

But even if he had won more votes, the election would still be uncertain. The former federal deputy convicted in Operation Lava Jato had his candidacy blocked last month by the TRE-MG (Regional Electoral Court of Minas Gerais), when the magistrates, unanimously, rejected his electoral registration.

The court maintained that Cunha's ineligibility should last until February 2027, considering the revocation of his mandate as federal deputy for Rio de Janeiro due to breach of decorum in 2016 and the conviction for administrative improbity by the TJ-RJ (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro).

The decision partially followed the opinion of the MPE (Public Electoral Ministry), which argued, in August, that Cunha is also ineligible due to facts investigated by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) related to the indication of parliamentary amendments. The TRE only accepted the first two justifications.

Cunha's defense appealed, arguing that the ineligibility ended in September 2024. The thesis is based on the new wording of the Clean Record Law, approved last year, which now counts eight years from the date of revocation and not from the end of the mandate.

The opinion vote by Minister Gilmar Mendes, from the STF, was also presented as an argument by the defense. The judge was in favor of a transitional rule in counting ineligibility periods, although the rapporteur of Cunha's case at TRE-MG claimed that Gilmar Mendes' vote was isolated and given in a trial that has not yet been concluded.

The TRE rejected the appeal, and Cunha's defense took the case to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). As a result, his candidacy is listed as "Rejected within appeal period or with appeal" on the Divulgacand website, of the Electoral Court.

Carioca, Cunha changed electoral district and party in these elections to run for the Republicans of Minas Gerais. He also tried to return to the Chamber for the São Paulo PTB in 2022 and managed to suspend his ineligibility, but was not elected.

The former deputy was one of the key figures in the impeachment of then president Dilma Rousseff (PT), a trial that he coordinated while being investigated as part of Operation Lava Jato.

Then from the PMDB, Cunha was denounced for the first time in August 2015, suspected of corruption, money laundering and having received US$5 million in bribes. The following month, the Swiss Public Ministry brought a criminal case to Brazil on suspicion of corruption and money laundering due to transactions in bank accounts linked to Cunha and the former deputy's family.

The Swiss accounts scandal culminated in requests to revoke Cunha's mandate from the Chamber's Council of Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum, and the case against Cunha was opened in November.

In December, the same month in which he accepted one of the impeachment requests against Dilma, he was the target of Operation Catilinárias, which represented a new phase of Lava Jato and continued investigations into Swiss accounts. In March 2016, he became a defendant in Lava Jato; in April, he led the vote on Dilma's impeachment.

Cunha was sentenced to 15 years and 11 months in prison for corruption and money laundering. He was imprisoned in a closed regime from October 2016 until March 2020, when he obtained the right to serve house arrest using an electronic ankle bracelet due to the pandemic.