The coalition backing Fernando Haddad, the Workers' Party (PT) candidate for governor of São Paulo, has asked the state's electoral court (TRE-SP) to take off the road a campaign bus used by Ricardo Salles, a federal deputy running for the Senate for the Novo party. The bus is decorated with the slogan "Fora Lula!" ("Lula Out") and a figure of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dressed as a prisoner. The complaint was first reported on Monday (24) by the Painel column of Folha de S.Paulo and confirmed by CNN Brasil.

According to Folha, the vehicle has been touring the interior of São Paulo state since last week and has already stopped in cities such as Mogi das Cruzes and Limeira. In its filing, Haddad's coalition argues that the bus works as a moving billboard and violates electoral advertising rules, which allow only stickers of up to 0.5 square meters on vehicles.

"Electoral advertising on motor vehicles is authorized by law only in the specific and exceptional case of a sticker that does not exceed 0.5 square meters, and the juxtaposition of pieces is also forbidden, a ban that exists to prevent private property from being used to create the effect of a billboard," the complaint reads. "All of these rules were and continue to be violated by the candidate named in the case, who drives around with his motorized billboard, illegally covering the entire state of São Paulo."

The Lula figure is a reproduction of the "pixuleco", the doll that became famous at protests in support of the Lava Jato (Car Wash) anti-corruption operation last decade. In a separate dispute, Novo went to the Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ), one of Brazil's highest courts, to secure the right to use the doll and the "Fora Lula" slogan. According to CNN Brasil, Justice Carlos Pires Brandão found there was no just cause to ban the material and allowed its use.

"This is a legitimate act of expression," Salles told CNN. Regarding the bus, the congressman said he will adjust the size of the stickers to comply with the electoral court's criteria.

The PT wants the vehicle barred from circulating anywhere in the state of São Paulo. It is now up to the TRE-SP to rule on the coalition's complaint.