Candidates culled in political clean-up

BRASILIA - In a country where gangs have threatened to take over the streets, authorities are doing their best to stop criminals taking over parliament.

About 1500 candidates charged with fraud have been banned from standing in Brazil's general election in October.

The suspensions are part of a renewed effort to clean up Brazil's corruption-plagued political system after scandals over vote-buying and campaign financing that rocked the Government last year and brought calls for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be impeached.

"Authorities are more pro-active because pressure from society to deal with this huge corruption quagmire is bigger than ever before," said Joao Paulo Peixoto, professor of politics at the University of Brasilia.

Brazilians go to the polls on October 1 to elect a president, 27 state governors and assemblies, 513 seats in the lower house of Congress and one-third of the Senate's 81 seats.

The Supreme Election Tribunal said yesterday that 1535 of 20,705 candidates had been suspended because of accusations of wrongdoing.

Lula is expected to win re-election by a wide margin, despite the scandals that kept the public transfixed for months with stories of monthly payments to public officials, slush funds and bribe money being stuffed into bagmen's underwear.

In the latest scandal, dubbed "Sanguessugas," or bloodsuckers, 86 congressmen allegedly took kickbacks for arranging for the Government to buy overpriced ambulances.

The news disappointed supporters of Lula and his Workers' Party, who had promised a new era of clean politics when they took office.

But the opposition's leading presidential candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, who is behind Lula in pre-election polls, has been unable to capitalise on public disgust with corruption, partly because members of his Brazilian Social Democracy Party are accused of having pioneered illegal schemes years before. Because of the public perception that politicians across the spectrum are corrupt, the economy and crime are more decisive election issues, analysts said.

One recent poll showed that 0.3 per cent of the people trust Congress.

Joao Paulo Cunha, former head of the lower house of Congress and a Lula ally, was one of those the tribunal banned. He and 17 other congressmen received off-the-books campaign cash from the Workers' Party.

Eurico Miranda, head of the Rio de Janeiro football club Vasco de Gama, also had his bid for a congressional seat suspended.

The election tribunal said Brazil was making progress in weeding out corrupt politicians.

Over the past year, more than 100 congressmen have been charged with embezzlement or illegal campaign financing in high-profile corruption cases. But legal loopholes could undermine the crackdown and candidates can appeal the suspensions.

"The cases could be overturned. That would be a huge disappointment to society," said tribunal president Marco Aurelio Mello.

The scams of Brazil's political corruption were given nicknames:

* Caixa Dois ("second cash register") - It involved undeclared campaign funding by the ruling Workers' Party and its allies. Some money was reported to have come from state firms. Several top Workers' Party figures quit their posts.

* Mensalao ("big monthly payments") - The Opposition claims undeclared campaign cash under the "Caixa Dois" scheme was used to buy votes in support of Government proposals in Congress. This scandal forced Jose Dirceu, Lula's Cabinet chief, to resign.

* Republic of Ribeirao Preto - Alleged kickback scheme for municipal contracts in Ribeirao Preto city, where Antonio Palocci was mayor before he entered national government. Palocci resigned as Lula's finance minister over the case. Accusers told of a "party house" dubbed the Republic of Ribeirao Preto where Workers' Party officials met to hand over money and consort with call girls.

* Sanguessugas ("Bloodsuckers") - An alleged scheme by congressmen who arranged for the Government to buy overpriced ambulances in exchange for kickbacks. Prosecutors have implicated 86 congressmen.

- REUTERS