Rui Costa Pimenta, founder of the Workers’ Cause Party (PCO), says Flávio Bolsonaro is being targeted and argues that Bolsonarism should be recognized as a legitimate political movement. Speaking to Folha, Pimenta criticized the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and said a summons requiring the senator to hand over his passports had no legal basis.
Pimenta said he opposes calls to imprison Bolsonarists, describing them as persecutory and anti-democratic. He stressed that he does not support Flávio Bolsonaro or the Liberal Party, but argued that their rights must be respected and that he opposes proceedings of that kind.
His comments come as the PCO has also faced judicial scrutiny. STF president Edson Fachin recently ordered the closure of an investigation opened in 2022 within the court’s fake news inquiry. The case followed PCO posts calling for the STF’s dissolution, after which Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the party’s accounts suspended. Fachin said the statutory period for prosecuting the alleged incitement had expired.
Pimenta said the decision was expected and that the PCO is considering suing the federal government for damages linked to the suspension of its social media accounts. He said the outcome would not change the party’s opposition to the STF’s current form. The PCO instead proposes a court made up of elected judges serving fixed terms, which would not legislate in place of Congress or claim ownership of the Constitution.
The Federal Police is separately investigating Pimenta over the alleged misuse of public electoral and party funds. Investigators say there are indications that public money went to companies and individuals they believe lacked the operational capacity for the amounts received or had ties to people within the party structure. Pimenta denies wrongdoing, saying the contracted services were delivered and that the payments were at or below market rates. He also says the law does not prohibit hiring companies linked to party members, and that there is no evidence he personally received electoral funds or illegally enriched himself.
Pimenta also questioned why his vote total has remained low despite what he describes as growing online popularity. He received about 15,000 votes in this year’s presidential election, close to the slightly more than 12,000 he received in 2014. He said he had no evidence of fraud and could not claim the election was irregular, though he called the results puzzling. He also rejected Flávio Bolsonaro’s claim that the election was illegitimate, distinguishing between raising doubts and asserting that it was invalid.
Sources: Folha Poder.