Most Brazilians will tell you their country has a long and storied history of juicy political corruption scandals here in South America\u2019s largest democracy.<\/p>\n
On an almost yearly basis there is at least one major political corruption scandal that erupts into a national frenzy and points a spot light on the dark side of Brazilian politics.<\/p>\n
In 2009, the \u2018scandal of the year<\/a>\u2019 involved Jose Arruda, the then Governor of Federal District, which encompasses the capital city of Brasilia.<\/p>\n Arruda and his aides were caught on hidden camera stuffing their pockets (literally) with bundles of cash in a classic money-for-favours scandal. (Watch this local news<\/a> report, in Portuguese, to see some of the video).<\/p>\n The scheme was broken-up by the federal police in an operation they called \u201cOperation Pandora\u2019s Box.\u201d (The term Pandora\u2019s Box comes from Greek mythology and was a jar that contained all the evils of the world inside).<\/p>\n Arruda and several others were jailed<\/a>, and the scandal went down as just one of a long list that has embroiled the political world in Brazil in recent history.<\/p>\n But now\u00a0the country\u00a0is taking huge strides to wash away corruption in politics with a groundbreaking new law referred to as Ficha Limpa \u2013 which means \u2018clean slate\u2019 in English.<\/p>\n The law would permanently bar anybody from running for any political office (in municipal, state or federal elections) who has any corruption charges (or even allegations) pending against them.<\/p>\n But the law is even more far reaching, and bars candidates who have been expelled from any professional organisations, such as lawyers who have been kicked out of a bar association.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery country has political corruption of some sort – the United States, Germany, Israel – but what we are doing here in Brazil with this ‘clean slate’ law is to add morals to our electoral process and increase the quality of the candidates,\u201d Luciano Santos, a lawyer who helped spearhead the law, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cThe candidates that remain in the election should be those who have a public life that meets \u2013 or exceeds – the standards to represent citizens and voters.\u201d<\/p>\n The law has become a major theme in Brazil\u2019s October 3 national elections, where over 22,500 candidates are running in elections that will determine the next president, all 513 seats in the lower house of congress, 54 of the 81 senate seats, all 26 state governorships and hundreds of other local state elections.<\/p>\n The Brazilian government accountability and audit agency handed over to the electoral court 4,922 names of candidates in the October election who potentially could be ruled ineligible for the sole reason of misuse of public funds during a previous term in elected office \u2013 one of the most common forms of political corruption in Brazil.<\/p>\n Add to that a much smaller number of candidates who have felony convictions, and the total number of candidates potentially at risk from expulsion from the new law could be over 5,000 \u2013 or slightly under 25 per cent\u00a0of the total candidate pool in the October election.<\/p>\n While there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how the law will be implemented in the long term, it is being applauded by those organisations that track corruption.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough it will be necessary to ensure the full enforcement of the law before we can fully celebrate its impact, this legislation serves as a double-punch in the fight against corruption in Brazil,\u201d Zoe Reiter, a senior programmes co-ordinator at Transparency International<\/a> told Al Jazeera. <\/em><\/p>\n Origins of the Law<\/strong><\/p>\n The roots of the law can be traced back to an organisation called the Movement to Combat Electoral Corruption (MCCE)<\/a>, an umbrella group comprising over 43 like-minded NGOs and organisations.<\/p>\n Campaigners from MCCE said few\u00a0politicians wanted to sponsor an anti-corruption bill in congress, so the organisation took advantage of a little-known, and almost never implemented, \u2018popular initiative\u2019 clause in congress that says with signatures from\u00a0one per cent\u00a0of the Brazilian population a bill can be taken up in congress.<\/p>\n Only\u00a0four bills in Brazilian history have reached congress in such a manner.<\/p>\n In September of last year, after 18 months of signature collecting, the law organisers forwarded to congress 1.7 million signatures. Soon after, another\u00a0two million people registered their support for the bill online.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that point senators and lawmakers felt pressure to approve the law,\u201d Santos said. \u201cThat is the importance of the popular initiative. The people\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n On September 29 of last year, congressman Antonio Carlos Biscaia<\/a> sponsored the bill in congress, so officially it will be recorded with his name on it (but unofficially it will always be known as a law from the people\u2019s initiative).<\/p>\n On June 4, 2010 President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the bill and three days later it became the law of the land.<\/p>\n The law is expected to close one of the major loopholes that has plagued the Brazilian electoral system, supporters say.<\/p>\n Many times a poltician accused of corruption or wrongdoing while in office simply resigns to avoid immediate prosecution and files an appeal to preserve their future in politics in the next election cycle.<\/p>\n \u201cThat appeals process could take up to 20 years,\u201d Santos said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in the meantime, they would run again in another election, because there was nothing preventing them from doing this. The new law bars anybody from office during this appeals process. That is a big step.\u201d<\/p>\n Implementation of law complicated<\/strong><\/p>\n While almost everyone agrees the law has all the right intentions, putting it into practice in October\u2019s election has been challenging.<\/p>\n Many politicians accused of corruption still have their cases stuck in the bureaucratic judicial system, and have not been \u2018formally\u2019 charged with any crime.<\/p>\n So the first line of defence in determining whom is ineligible rests with the local public prosecutors office, and they have a short amount of time to make an initial ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Rio de Janeiro state alone there are about 2,800 candidates running for public office in October\u2019s election,\u201d Silvana Batini, one of the prosecutors in the local office told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a very short time to analyze cases. I have to make a ruling in 48 hours. And I have piles and piles of cases stacking up on my desk.<\/p>\n “There is an overload of work, but the responsibility is very high with the public regarding this new law.\u201d<\/p>\n Candidates who have been ruled ineligible can ask for injunctions from a panel of judges at the regional electoral tribunal, and then later to the superior electoral tribunal.<\/p>\n Many candidates ruled ineligible continue to campaign while they wait for an appeal ruling, and several have even appealed all the way up to the supreme court.<\/p>\n But supporters say the difficulties are to be expected at this stage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a natural process taking place; there has been resistance to the law form people who know they will be effected by it, but the law is going in a very positive direction.\u201d Santos said.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not think implementation is that difficult, it is just a matter of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Making an Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n Even with the problems implementing the law, it\u2019s making a big impact.<\/p>\n One of the best known Brazilian politicians, Paulo Maluf, who was running for congress, on August 23 was ruled ineligible for the October election because of the new law.<\/p>\n Maluf is a former governor of Sao Paulo state, and twice a former mayor of the city of Sao Paulo whose political career dates back four decades in Brazil.<\/p>\n He has long been suspected of shady deals, only confirmed when an arrest warrant was issued for him in New York for fraud, conspiracy and theft. Interpol<\/a> has added him<\/a>, along with his son<\/a>, Flavio Maluf, to their list of wanted men.<\/p>\n Maluf claims his innocence of any wrongdoing, and says he is just being made into an example of the law because he is so famous.<\/p>\n In another case, the electoral court is looking to use the new law to possibly bar Roseana Sarney<\/a>, governor of Maranh\u00e3o state, in her re-election bid after charges of alleged wrongdoing.<\/p>\n The name Sarney is a political dynasty in Brazil. Roseana is the daughter of Jose Sarney<\/a>, Brazil\u2019s former president from 1985 to 1990, who has on three different occasions served as president of the senate<\/a>, including presently, after replacing former senate president Renan Calheiros, who in 2007 was forced to resign<\/a> after being accused of taking money from a lobbyists to pay for funds for a woman he was having an extra-marital affair with.<\/p>\n