Brazil: Bolsonaro challenges Chamber of Deputies with military parade

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Jair Bolsonaro (center) watches the parade from the government palace, together with Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto (2nd from right) and members of the armed forces

Photo: Myke Sena / dpa

It was an unusual deployment of the military in the center of Brasilia: Tanks rolled through the Brazilian capital on Tuesday under the eyes of President Jair Bolsonaro. Flanked by several ministers as well as the chiefs of the army, the air force and the navy, the right-wing radical head of state watched as the military vehicles drove past the presidential palace, the congress building and the supreme court.

Vehicles that passed through the Department of Defense, Congress, and the Presidential Palace, among others, included jeeps, trucks, and tanks, as seen in photos.

On Tuesday the vote in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia was due to amend the constitution, according to which electronic ballot boxes in the country are to be provided with printed ballot papers.

The corresponding proposal had reached the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies despite the rejection of the special commission.

Show of force on the day of the vote

The military parade on the same day was a "tragic coincidence," said the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira. The official purpose of the ceremony was to present Bolsonaro with an invitation to an annual military exercise that has been taking place near the capital since 1988. Observers pointed out, however, that it was the first time since the return to democracy in Brazil that tanks rolled through the streets in front of the presidential palace and parliament.

They assessed the ten-minute parade as a show of force by the president, who is currently in the sights of the judiciary because of his attacks on the electoral system.

The right-wing radical head of state has justified the military dictatorship in Brazil several times in the past.

Dozens of Bolsonaro supporters attended the parade at the presidential palace, some holding up signs calling for military intervention to "save Brazil."

The electoral system in Brazil - the most populous country in Latin America with 210 million people - is entirely electronic.

Via social media, among other things, Bolsonaro has been sowing doubts about the reliability of the electoral system since the 2018 presidential elections and most recently during demonstrations by his supporters.

Like former US President Donald Trump, he warns of possible manipulation without any evidence.

Bolsonaro demands that the vote must also be recorded on a printout, otherwise he may not recognize the result of the 2022 presidential election.

A Supreme Court judge last week ordered an investigation into the president for disseminating misinformation.

The Supreme Electoral Court is already investigating the suspicion that Bolsonaro is abusing his "economic and political power" to question the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election.

nek / AFP / dpa