Deltan Dallagnol may lose Senate seat; PT pressures TSE

The election of Deltan Dallagnol (New) to the Senate by Paraná still depends on a final decision of Justiça Eleitoral. Even after winning about 2.9 million votes in the October elections, the former prosecutor of Operação Lava Jato faces an appeal that could impede his diplomacy and alter the outcome of the dispute for one of the state seats in Congresso Nacional.

On Tuesday (10), the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) remains unpredicted to resume the trial. The process was withdrawn from the agenda on October 8 and since then there has been no new date set. The indefiniteness worries the parties responsible for the contestation, which advocate a conclusion before December 18, the deadline for the diplomacy of the elected candidates.

PT wants to speed up the trial of the candidacy

The Paraná coalition and the Brazilian Federation of Hope, composed of PT, PCdoB and PV, submitted requests for the TSE to give priority to the process. The parties also admit the possibility of analysis in a virtual environment, as a way to speed up the decision.

The questioning did not begin after the vote. Since the period leading up to the elections, the subtitles have tried to demonstrate that Dallagnol would be prevented from contesting public positions because of a court decision taken in 2023.

In that year, the TSE determined the loss of the mandate of federal deputy of the former prosecutor, after concluding that his departure from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, in 2021, occurred in circumstances related to the possibility of accountability in disciplinary procedures.

According to the understanding adopted by the Court on that occasion, the exoneration would have allowed Dallagnol to avoid consequences that could fit him into the restrictions provided for by the Law of Ficha Limpa.

For the PT and its allies, the effects of this decision would remain valid until 2029, which would prevent the candidacy for the Senate in 2026.

Defense disputes ineligibility

The lawyers of Deltan Dallagnol present a different interpretation. The defense argues that the administrative procedures related to the case were subsequently shelved and that the decision taken by TSE in 2023 does not in itself establish an automatic ban for the 2026 dispute.

This argument was accepted by the majority of the members of the Regional Electoral Court of Paraná (TRE-PR).

In September, by four votes to three, the court authorized the registration of the candidacy. The prevailing understanding was that the effects of the previous decision were related to the 2022 election and did not configure an autonomous ineligibility of eight years.

The Electoral Public Prosecutor’s Office also presented a demonstration in favour of maintaining the register.

Turn on Justiça Eleitoral marked the vote

Dallagnol’s path to the polls was marked by divergent court decisions.

Initially, the TSE imposed restrictions on the candidate's campaign, preventing him from participating in debates, broadcasting electoral propaganda on radio and television, and using public resources destined for the contest.

On the eve of the election, on October 3, Minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques individually decided to reject the registration of the candidacy and to consider void the votes destined for the plate.

However, on the morning of October 4, TSE president, Minister Nunes Marques, suspended the effects of that decision.

The measure allowed the votes received by Dallagnol to be counted normally, although the definitive validity of his candidacy continues to depend on the trial by the plenary.

Can Alexandre Curi take over the vacancy?

In addition to deciding on the eligibility of the former prosecutor, Justiça Eleitoral may need to define the fate of the votes received by him.

Dallagnol finished the election in second place, behind Filipe Barros (PL), who won the other Paranaense seat in the Senate.

The parties that contest the registration argue that, if the candidacy is definitively rejected, Dallagnol’s votes are annulled and the seat is assigned to Alexandre Curi (Republicans), third placed in the dispute.

Candidate Gleisi Hoffmann (PT) came in fourth place.

The defense of the New candidate, in turn, argues that a possible loss of the seat would require the holding of a new election for the Senate in Paraná, allowing voters to choose another representative.

The two possibilities still depend on the legal interpretation that will prevail in the trial. Therefore, there is no definition at this time as to who would occupy the chair if Dallagnol were prevented from taking office.

The decision may define the composition of the Senate in 2027

With the diplomacy of the elected officials scheduled to take place by December 18, the absence of a date for the trial maintains the scenario of political uncertainty in the Paraná.

The final decision of the TSE will be key in determining whether Deltan Dallagnol can graduate and take office in February 2027.

In the meantime, the former prosecutor remains with the electoral result provisionally recognized, but subject to the outcome of the judicial dispute.

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