Brazil election: Lula attacks Supreme Court to salvage runoff campaign

Following a setback in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has executed a major strategic pivot by turning his rhetoric against the country's highest judicial body. On October 5, 2026, during his first campaign coordination meeting since the vote, Lula declared that his reelection bid is "carrying on its back" what he described as the "promiscuity" established within the Supreme Federal Court (STF), as reported by CNN Brasil.

This sharp public criticism marks a dramatic departure for the leftist leader. Throughout his current term, Lula historically defended the STF as a vital bulwark of Brazilian democracy, particularly during the highly polarized years following the 2022 election. However, a massive corruption scandal involving the liquidated Banco Master and several prominent Supreme Court justices has severely damaged the court’s reputation, leaving Lula highly exposed to voter backlash over institutional corruption.

The political shift comes as Lula struggles to regain momentum before the decisive second-round runoff scheduled for October 25, 2026. In the first-round vote on October 4, conservative Senator Flávio Bolsonaro—the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro—led the field with 47.03% of the valid votes, while Lula trailed with 45.16%, according to official results reported by G1. To win back moderate, middle-of-the-road voters, Lula is now attempting to position himself as an "anti-system" candidate willing to reform the judiciary.

The Banco Master Scandal

The crisis engulfing the STF stems from a federal police investigation into Banco Master and its former controller, Daniel Vorcaro, who was arrested earlier in 2026 for financial fraud. Subsequent leaks of police documents and messages revealed compromised relationships, meetings, and legal contracts involving at least five of the STF's eleven justices, including high-profile figures like Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça, as detailed by Poder360.

While Lula himself has not been implicated in the banking scandal, his close political alignment with the STF has allowed Flávio Bolsonaro to successfully link the president to the court's ethical crisis. By attacking the "promiscuity" of the justices, Lula is attempting to sever this association. He has proposed a comprehensive judicial reform, suggesting that Brazil should debate introducing fixed term limits for Supreme Court justices and altering the current system where the president handpicks nominees for Senate approval.

What Lies Ahead

With less than three weeks until the runoff, Lula's campaign is focusing heavily on reducing voter abstention—which surpassed 33 million in the first round—and preparing for direct, head-to-head television debates. No presidential candidate in Brazil's modern democratic history has ever trailed in the first round and successfully reversed the result in the runoff. Lula must now convince skeptical voters that he represents a check on institutional corruption, even as his conservative opponent rides a wave of right-wing momentum that also saw Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL) win a massive block of seats in Congress.