Brazil – Jair Bolsonaro has once again questioned the electoral system

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro once again questioned the Brazilian electoral system on Monday, before dozens of ambassadors, less than three months before a presidential election in which all opinion polls predict defeat for him.

“We want to fix the flaws, we want transparency, real democracy,” the far-right president said, hitting the electronic ballot box again. “I am constantly accused of inciting coup d’état. We have time to resolve the issue with the participation of the armed forces,” said the head of state, presenting a PowerPoint presentation of the electoral process.

Jair Bolsonaro spoke for almost an hour in the Alvorada Palace, in front of ambassadors, who were definitely invited to hear him on the matter, especially from France or Spain. Ambassadors from China and Argentina, despite being key partners of Brazil, were not invited for unspecified reasons.

A given failure

For months, Jair Bolsonaro has been planting the idea that electronic voting could lead to ballot fraud in a country where the formula has proven its reliability since 1996.

Jair Bolsonaro lost in October against leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Analysts fear his criticism of the electoral system is aimed at setting the stage for contested ballot results and possible serious political unrest.

During a hearing in the Senate last week, Defense Minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira proposed a “parallel vote” with a ballot box specially designed to collect paper ballots, according to the president, the only way to avoid fraud. “We have three months to the election, the proposal of the armed forces cancels the possibility of practical handling (…) and cannot face the (organized) election in violation,” the president said.

AFP

Published today at 00:34

Did you find an error?Please let us know.

0 comments