TSE maintains impeachment of PL deputy for use of public funds in facial harmonization

Unanimously, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) maintained, this Thursday, the 30th, the revocation of the mandate of federal deputy Silvia Nobre Lopes, known as Silvia Waiãpi (PL-AP), for using public campaign resources to pay for facial harmonization procedures in the 2022 elections. The case was reported by the parliamentarian’s then campaign coordinator.

The request for revocation was presented by the Electoral Public Ministry (MP) to the Amapá Electoral Court. The deputy’s mandate had already been revoked by the State’s Regional Electoral Court (TRE/AP), but she appealed to the TSE.

According to the Electoral MP, the parliamentarian used R$9,000 from the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC), when she was a candidate, to pay for an aesthetic procedure, which is prohibited by electoral legislation. She was impeached for “serious irregularities in campaign fundraising or spending”.

The case’s rapporteur, minister André Mendonça, stated that the facts were duly proven and that the parliamentarian’s conduct “directly offends the moral integrity of the electoral process and compromises the legitimacy of the mandate obtained at the polls”. The case was being judged in the virtual plenary, but went to the physical plenary after a request from minister Nunes Marques.

In this Thursday’s session, the deputy electoral attorney general, Alexandre Espinosa, highlighted that the irregular expenses were proven by documents and witnesses, which represents a “serious violation of morality and transparency” in campaign expenses.

He also highlighted that the deputy falsified invoices to circumvent the inspection of the Electoral Court. “The amount diverted cannot be considered irrelevant, when we are facing qualified illegality and bad faith”, pointed out the deputy PGE.

With the TSE’s decision, the votes received by the parliamentarian will be annulled. This will result in a recalculation of the electoral and party quotients, so that the vacancy can be redistributed. The TSE ordered immediate communication to the president of the TRE/AP so that the measure can be complied with.

Known as “Bolsonaro’s indigenous person”, the federal deputy is from the Waiãpi ethnic group who are distributed in Amapá, Pará and French Guiana. She was a lieutenant in the Army and was appointed by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to head the National Secretariat of Indigenous Health (Sesai) in his government.