Lula fears ‘trouble’ if Bolsonaro wins
Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday expressed fears that he will win this Sunday’s election over the outgoing head of state.
“I’m afraid we don’t have the same ease with Bolsonaro,” Lula insisted. (file image)
Keystone/EPA/Antonio Lacerta
Former leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday he feared “trouble” if he wins the presidential election, the first round of which is Sunday, against outgoing head of state Jair Bolsonaro.
The poll favorite, Lula, 76, is seeking a third term after ruling the country from 2003 to 2010. At that time, he was elected in the second round, defeating representatives of the center-right party PSDB.
“Effective Vote”
“We played politics with PSDB. If they won they celebrated and if they lost they allowed the winners to celebrate. Bolsonaro is not behaving like that and he may try to stir up trouble during the transition,” Lula told a press conference in Rio de Janeiro (southeast) before the president-elect took office.
He is counting on an intensive campaign focused on “useful votes” to win the first round. If he does not win, the second round will be held on October 30. If he wins, he will have to wait until January 1 to take office in Brasilia.
Electronic ballot boxes
“It will be more difficult than in 2002 (during his first presidential victory), we experienced an extraordinary, peaceful transition with the PSDB. I’m afraid we don’t have the same facility as Bolsonaro,” Lula insisted.
Jair Bolsonaro has stepped up attacks against Brazil’s system of electronic ballot boxes, which has been in place since 1996, although he was elected vice president several times and then stepped down as president in 2018.
“Clean Election”
He specifically referred to “fraud” – without always providing evidence – prompting fears that he would not approve the decision in the event of failure.
“If the elections are clean and transparent, the results of the referendum will be respected,” the far-right president declared during his campaign.
Donald Trump
Along with the exponential increase in gun licenses under President Bolsonaro, experts fear violent incidents like the storming of the Capitol in Washington after Donald Trump is defeated in the US presidential election in January 2021.
On Friday, the final day of the campaign, Lula was to head northeast, to Salvador de Bahia, then to Fortaleza. For his part, Bolsonaro led a motorcade in the spa town of Bozos de Caldas in Minas Gerais (southeast).
AFP
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