President Jair Bolsonaro said this Monday (18) that his government is working to present a “way out” for this year’s elections.
“We want, obviously, we are fighting, to present a way out of all this. We want trust and transparency in the Brazilian electoral system”, said Bolsonaro, in an event with heads of diplomatic missions in Brazil about the electoral process.
According to the president, the government works to “correct flaws” in the electoral process. “We want to fix flaws. We want transparency. We want real democracy,” he said. The names of the ambassadors who attended the ceremony were not disclosed.
In a press release, Palácio do Planalto stressed that the event had the objective of “improving the standards of transparency and security” of the elections.
“[O presidente] He stressed to the diplomatic representatives present his desire to improve the standards of transparency and security of the Brazilian electoral process. He emphasized that the priority is to ensure that the will of the Brazilian people unquestionably prevails in the elections to be held on October 2nd,” the note reads.
Also during the event, Bolsonaro criticized the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, Edson Fachin and Luís Roberto Barroso. In Bolsonaro’s assessment, the ministers make regrettable statements.
“Mr. Barroso, like Mr. Fachin, began to walk around the world criticizing me, as if I were preparing a coup on the occasion of the elections. The opposite is what is happening. Barroso, in the United States, gave a lecture on how to get rid of a president. He was from the TSE and the STF. Are you not aware of people who hold the same positions in other countries talking, giving interviews and lecturing about personal opinions about the government? The Minister Barroso’s opinion is regrettable, this hinders Brazil.”
Judiciary
After Bolsonaro’s statements, the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Minister Edson Fachin, reaffirmed that the voting system is safe, transparent and auditable. At an event promoted by the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) in Paraná, Fachin said that the electoral debate has been “flattened by harmful narratives that seek to dilute the Republic and constitutionality”.
“We live in an intricate time, marked by the naturalization of the abuse of language and the lack of civic commitment in which consolidated facts are systematically distorted, in which anti-democracy is sowed, allegedly justified by an invented state of affairs, anchored in pseudo-representations of elements that confront evidently, the seriousness of the justice system and the high integrity of national lawsuits. In this path of disinformation, interconnected scenarios are created, as, incidentally, the country itself is witnessing today”, he declared.
In a note, the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Luís Roberto Barroso declared that he is “fulfilling the tiresome duty of reestablishing the truth in the face of lies repeatedly uttered”.
“Fulfilling the tiresome duty of reestablishing the truth in the face of repeated lies, the cabinet of Minister Luís Roberto Barroso informs that he never gave a lecture abroad under the title How to Get Rid of a President. At an event held at the University of Texas, the lecture of the minister was on Authoritarian Populism, Democratic Resistance and the Role of the Supreme Courts.” The minister mentioned that both the video of the presentation and the text on which the lecture was based are public.
Also according to the note, at the event, topics such as separation of powers, semi-presidentialism, the role of the courts and impeachment. “As some of the works presented were effectively about mechanisms for removing presidents in Latin America, the students who organized the event gave it the title of “Ditching a President: Constitutional Design of the Executive Branch in Latin America” (“Removing a President: Constitutional Design of Executive Power in Latin America”). None of the exhibitors even touched on the topic of possible impeachment of the current President of Brazil”, concludes the text.
Legislative
The president of Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco, spoke on social media. According to him, a strong democracy is built with respect to contradictions and divergences, regardless of the theme.
“The security of electronic voting machines and the smoothness of the electoral process can no longer be questioned. There is no just cause and reason for this. These questions are bad for Brazil in all aspects. The National Congress, whose composition was elected by the current and modern electoral system, has the obligation to assure the population that electronic voting machines will give the country the faithful result of the will of the people, whatever it may be,” he said.
