If conservative and centrist lawmakers unite, they will command a simple majority in the 513-seat lower house and could even assemble a supermajority in a broad alliance to change Brazil’s constitution. A similar dynamic is expected in the Senate. Analysts and politicians agree there could be long-lasting impacts in Brazil and in Latin America.
Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party won an additional 23 seats in the lower house and nearly doubled its Senate seats, mostly at the expense of centrist parties. Lula's Workers' Party held onto roughly the same number of seats.
High on the list of likely changes is dealing with the corruption within the nation's Supreme Court.
Among other things, conservative lawmakers also expressed their wish to curtail individual rulings from Supreme Court justices, who have often suspended laws, issued sweeping injunctions and made high-impact orders without the authorization of the full bench. Some lawmakers also want to discuss term limits for justices.
Many of the conservative lawmakers also want to overturn the far-left polcies that have given special rights to so-called transgenders. That would include ending policies such as allowing men to use womens' bathrooms.
These lawmakers also intend to secure leadership of congressional commissions to oppose the push for gender-neutral language and promote a biological definition of womanhood.
