Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and former president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), questioned yesterday (24) whether the Armed Forces are being “oriented” to attack the electoral process. The Ministry of Defense said, in a statement, “it repudiates any inference or insinuation, without evidence, that they would have received supposed guidance to carry out actions contrary to the principles of democracy.”
On Sunday, Barroso participated in a panel on democracy and fake news at the Brazil Summit Europe 2022, an event held by a German university. The minister praised the Armed Forces, from which he said “bad news” has not come out since redemocratization, but said there is now an effort to attract them “to the retail of politics”, which would be tragic for democracy.
“Since 1996 there has not been an episode of fraud in Brazil. Elections that are totally clean, safe and auditable. And now if they intend to use the Armed Forces to attack? it?” said the minister. “I have an expectation that the Armed Forces will not be seduced by this effort to throw them into the fire of political passions. Until now, professionalism and respect for the Constitution have occurred,” he added.
In a note published last night, specifically in response to Barroso’s speech, Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira said that “to affirm that the Armed Forces were oriented to attack the electoral system, even more without the presentation of any proof or evidence of whoever guided it or how it happened, is irresponsible and constitutes a serious offense to these Permanent National Institutions of the Brazilian State. In addition, it affects ethics, harmony and respect between the institutions”.
Last year, when I was still presiding over the TSE, Barroso invited the Armed Forces to participate in a commission dedicated to promoting transparency and to protect the electoral process from disinformation. In February, the military requested information on dozens of technical issues related to the electoral process. Both the questions and the answers to the inquiries were later published on the TSE portal.
“The Armed Forces, republican, responded to the invitation of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and presented collaborative, plausible and feasible proposals, within the scope of the Commission for the Transparency of Elections (CTE) and based on an accurate technical study carried out by a team of experts, to improve the security and transparency of the electoral system, which is currently under consideration by that Commission. Elections are a matter of sovereignty and national security, therefore, in the interest of all”, says the note from the Defense Minister.
Participating in the TSE commission are also representatives of civil society, the Federal Police (PF), the Federal Audit Court (TCU), the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE), university professors and information technology specialists.
