By Carol Amancio
Brazil's attorney general, Paulo Gonet, asked the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the country's highest court, on Friday (Nov. 6) to suspend all lawsuits across the country that challenge the ban on online betting. The ban was imposed by a provisional measure (medida provisória, or MP) signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) at the end of September, shortly before the first round of the elections. Gonet argues that too many cases moving at the same time create legal uncertainty.
Gonet asks Justice Fux to stop the cases
The request went to Justice Luiz Fux, the rapporteur of the case that examines whether the MP is constitutional. In practice, Gonet wants every case paused until the Supreme Court issues its final word. It is now up to Fux to decide whether to accept the request and freeze the lawsuits, or to let them continue in the lower courts.
A ruling granted and reversed in three days
The trigger was a preliminary injunction granted on Tuesday (Nov. 3) by a judge of the TRF-3, a federal appeals court, allowing three websites of the company CDA Gaming to return. Gonet cited that decision in his filing as an example of the confusion the MP is already causing.
The response came quickly. On the same Friday, the president of the TRF-3, Johonsom Di Salvo, overturned the injunction and suspended the return of the games. In other words, within three days the same court first allowed the sites back and then blocked them. This back-and-forth is what the attorney general wants to avoid.
Congress joins the fight
The dispute is not limited to the courts. Lawmakers have already filed 100 amendments to the MP. The clock is running: the measure expires on March 4, counting its 120 days in force and the periods when Congress is in recess.
However, the measure lapsing would not automatically bring the companies back to the market. The text set Oct. 25 as the date for the licenses of the betting sites to expire, which leaves the sector in a gray area. Those who operate, invest and work in the regulated market still do not know what comes next.
The government's argument
In the MP, the government argues that ending online betting serves the public interest. The text says the experience of Brazil's regulated market, after about two years of operation, failed to ensure enough protection for health, consumers, minors and the financial stability of families.
Lula himself has made his position clear. "If it depends on my will, I will put an end to the bets in this country," the president said.
Why it matters
Online betting has become a large regulated industry in Brazil in recent years, with licensed operators, investors and workers. A provisional measure takes effect immediately but must be approved by Congress to become permanent law. The outcome will define whether the sector survives, and it is being decided at the same time by the Supreme Court, lower courts and Congress.
VDD Analysis
A measure issued in the final stretch of an election campaign, which shuts down a regulated market in one stroke and within days has already produced an injunction and a counter-injunction, is not an example of legal certainty. Protecting consumers and families is legitimate, but a government that prefers to ban rather than to oversee and regulate properly feeds uncertainty for companies, jobs and investment. If even the attorney general admits the procedural chaos, the Planalto (the presidency) needs to explain why it chose the stroke of a pen instead of a broad debate in Congress.
