Michelle Bolsonaro cites husband's house arrest, calls for balanced powers in Senate campaign

Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of the imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, is actively campaigning for a Senate seat, urging voters to elect allied senators to counterbalance the powers in Brazil. Speaking at the launch of Senator Izalci Lucas's federal deputy candidacy, she highlighted the need to restore legal normality, referencing her husband's house arrest and the January 8th events.

"We have Jair Messias Bolsonaro who is under house arrest, we have the people of January 8th, and we will work to bring legal normality to this country. We need to balance the powers, and for that, we must elect senators," Michelle stated. The election of two-thirds of the Senate is a key objective for Bolsonaro's political movement, particularly due to the Senate's prerogative to initiate impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court ministers.

Bolsonaro himself was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the January 8th, 2023, coup attempts and is currently under house arrest. Michelle's campaign efforts also include promoting her stepson, Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running for president. A campaign video released on Wednesday shows Michelle and Flávio appearing relaxed and smiling together, a stark contrast to a previous incident where Michelle accused him of disrespect. The video, filmed earlier in the week, features them endorsing each other, with Michelle also calling for votes for Flávio and his running mate, Alfredo Gaspar, at the event.