Former Brazilian president, investigated in a corruption scandal, is named chief of staff, gaining legal immunity

Lula's swearing-in was temporarily suspended by a federal judge; final decision regarding the legality of the appointment is up to the Supreme Court

Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, was president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, when he left office with a 90% approval rating and helped to elect his sucessor and current head of state, Dilma Rousseff. Both are members of the governing party, called Workers' Party, which therefore has been in power for 13 years. Brazil has suffered one its worst crisis in decades, with the most important political figures under investigation: the speaker of the lower house, the president of the Senate, the vice president, the sitting president, some leaders of the opposition and finally the former president Lula.

One of the most popular leaders of the nation faces accusations of money laundering and illegal accumulation of wealth. This month, the Federal Police raided his home and took him into custody on suspicion he benefited from a bribery scheme. Some days after prosecutors requested his preventive detention, Lula was named Rousseff's chief of staff., who currently faces impeachment preceedings that have been opened in Congress against her. In Brazil cabinet ministers and other authorities can only be tried in the Supreme Court, where the process may be dragged out for years. Thus, many critics and opponents of the government saw Lula's appointment as obstruction of justice in order to give him some kind of legal immunity. This has contributed to boost the political tension in a divided country. There have been a lot of demonstrations across the nation after the former president accepted the fourth most important post of Brazil. bu doğru görünüyor mu?