RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Federal police opened an investigation this Monday (12) into Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, for possible irregularities in Covid-19 vaccine purchase negotiations.
The process was officially opened by the police after the authorization of Justice Rosa Weber of the Supreme Court, following a request made by the Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation, which should be concluded within 90 days, aims to establish whether the President committed official dereliction of duty or other crimes in the negotiations to purchase the Covaxin vaccine produced by the Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech.
The suspicions were raised by a Senate committee (Covid CPI) trying to determine whether the government is responsible for the worsening of a pandemic that has killed more than 533,000 Brazilians.
According to Statista, a German company specializing in market and consumer data, Brazil ranks seventh in the number of deaths per million among the ten most affected nations like Peru, the Czech Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, Belgium, and other European countries.
But neither in Belgium, Italy, Argentina nor Peru, is there a comparable investigation against the respective head of state.
In Brazil, however, elections are imminent and the impeachment claims and CPI investigation are seen as primarily intended to weaken the sitting president.
Some of the alleged irregularities were made by Congressman Luis Miranda and his brother Ricardo Miranda, head of imports of the Ministry of Health, who claimed the President ignored the warnings about alleged suspicions of corruption in the process of acquiring the immunizers developed by the laboratory Bharat Biotech.
Once the investigation by the Federal Police is concluded, the Prosecutor’s Office will have to determine whether there is solid evidence against the leader of the Brazilian right; if so, it can file an initial complaint with the Supreme Court.
The Brazilian Supreme Court, however, finds itself in a questionable position and is criticized for its methods even by friendly media. If interested, read here.
If the complaint is accepted, the Supreme Court can only initiate a trial if that is approved by a two-thirds majority of the 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies. Given the current composition of the Chamber, with the Centrão bloc that supports Bolsonaro, there is very little likelihood of its approving the trial of a sitting president.
If the Chamber does not authorize the proceeding, Bolsonaro would remain in power until the end of his term in 2022.
In the Chamber did approve a trial, the president would be suspended from his functions during the 180 days that the Supreme Court has to conclude the trial; he would be removed from office if found guilty.