Lula Reverses Longstanding Stance, Backing Lowering Criminal Responsibility Age to 16

In a move widely characterized as an electoral gambit ahead of a decisive presidential runoff, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reversed his longstanding opposition to lowering the age of criminal responsibility for certain crimes, announcing on Thursday night that he now supports reducing it from 18 to 16. Speaking in a television interview, Lula stated his new position as a "Brazilian citizen" in favor of changing the law for "any and every heinous crime," directly contradicting the stance maintained by his party for years. This abrupt policy shift was driven by recent opinion polls showing that 80% of the Brazilian population supports the change, a figure Lula cited in justifying his new view. The incumbent faces a tight race against far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who leads by over two million votes from the first round, and the policy pivot is seen as an attempt to appeal to undecided and independent voters.

The policy announcement comes amid intense political maneuvering in the final days before the runoff election. Both Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, have long advocated for lowering the age of criminal responsibility even further, to 14, a proposal that had already been debated in the senate that day. The Episcopal Conference of Brazil criticized the measure for failing to address the root causes of violence, warning that placing young people in the prison system early undermines their rehabilitation and deepens cycles of exclusion. Meanwhile, the incumbent government has pursued other measures to gain political ground, including securing congressional approval for a shorter working week and debt relief for microentrepreneurs, efforts aimed at reshaping the electoral landscape in the runoff.

Critics, including human rights organizations and security experts, argue that lowering the age of criminal responsibility does little to tackle the underlying causes of violence and may instead increase the recruitment of youth into organized crime within Brazil’s overcrowded prison system. In Brazil, approximately a quarter of the 816,000 people serving prison sentences are incarcerated for drug trafficking, an offence included in the extensive list of crimes classified as "heinous" under Brazilian law. Columnist Josias de Souza described Lula’s reversal as a transformation in which the president turned himself "inside out" on public security, noting the decision breaks fundamentally with his previous policy record. The announcement underscores the high stakes of the upcoming election, where Lula’s shifting positions are being viewed as desperate attempts to overturn his opponent's lead at the polls.