Brazil election: Bolsonaro's presidency is shaking
Created: 09/30/2022, 11:54 am
By: Bettina Menzel
The Brazilian presidential candidates (clockwise from left to right): President and candidate for re-election Jair Bolsonaro (PL), former President (2003-2010) and leftist Workers' Party (PT) candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ciro Gomes (PDT ) and Simone Tebet (MDB).
© Miguel SCHINCariol / AFP
For Jair Bolsonaro, the elections in Brazil could be close - the right-wing incumbent is already raising doubts about the electoral system as a precaution.
Brasilia – Elections will be held in Brazil next Sunday.
156 million eligible voters are called upon to cast their vote and elect a President.
Recent polls suggest that right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro (PL) faces a loss to left-leaning challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT).
As a precaution, Bolsonaro is fueling doubts about the electoral system in Brazil and even threatening the country's court.
The mood in the country is heated.
At least two Lula supporters have already paid for their support for the opposing candidate with their deaths.
Brazil elections: Challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads by double digits
Hardly any other election in Brazil's recent history polarized the population so much - and there is a lot at stake.
While there are multiple candidates, polls suggest the decision will fall between two prominent names: right-wing incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who ruled the country from 2003 to 2010.
In 2018, the ex-president was sentenced to prison and imprisoned for corruption.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and the founder of the Labor Party PT was released after 580 days.
According to Lula, the procedure was called "politically motivated".
The aim was to prevent his participation in the 2018 presidential election - which Bolsonaro won at the time.
Brazil is divided on both the conviction and the release.
According to current polls, there could be a close outcome with Lula as Bolsonaro's opponent in the presidential election.
The opinion research institute Datafolha determined on Thursday 45 to 47 percent approval for ex-President Lula and 33 percent for right-wing incumbent Bolsonaro.
Although election polls are usually snapshots, they can certainly reveal a trend in the election campaign.
Datalfolha also published another survey that sheds light on the political climate in the country.
According to this, around 70 percent of people in Brazil are afraid of being attacked because of their political views.
That's no coincidence: in the past few months, at least two Lula supporters have been killed by suspected Bolsonaro fans.
Poisonous climate in Brazil elections: Bolsonaro deploys "Trump-like" guns
People walk past a blank billboard in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil's parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 2, 2022 (pictured September 27).
© Brazil, Rio De Janeiro: Silvia Izquierdo/AP/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++
Like former US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro, faced with an impending defeat in the presidential election, has started to doubt the electoral system - without providing concrete evidence.
Since 1996, Brazil has been using electronic voting machines that undergo annual security tests and are not connected to the internet.
As early as 2018, the right-wing incumbent claimed to have won the then presidential election in the first round – and not just in the runoff.
Bolsonaro is considered an ardent admirer of Trump, which is why critics also refer to him as "Tropical Trump".
The latest claims by the incumbent Brazilian head of state prompted the Supreme Court, which launched preliminary investigations into Bolsonaro.
also read
Angela Merkel comments on Russia again – Melnyk rages: “Sounds almost perverse to Ukrainians”
"Will not organize a massacre": Putin politician surprises with nuclear weapons statement
Brazil elections: Bolsonaro threatens Supreme Court and his political opponents
Around a week before the presidential election, the right-wing politician openly threatened the Supreme Court in Brazil at a campaign event.
"You know that your freedom is being threatened more and more every day by another non-executive branch of the state," Bolsonaro said on Friday, referring to the Supreme Court investigation, as reported by the Brazilian newspaper
Folha de S. Paulo
.
"And we know that we have to put an end to this abuse." Political opponents are enemies who "must be eradicated from public life," the incumbent said around September.
Something similar was heard from party circles: Francisco Cavalcante, a deputy from Bolsonaro's Partido Liberal party, recently said: "If we don't win at the polls, we'll win with bullets." In addition to the presidential election on October 2, Brazilians can also vote cast their ballots for new governors, senators and members of parliament.
There are also many bizarre candidates, names and slogans.
A candidate of short stature comes up with the slogan "I'm the smallest of your problems".
Other politicians chose the nicknames "Wolverine", "Mario Boss" or "Bill Clinton do Amapá" - according to Brazilian electoral law, candidates are allowed to give themselves nicknames.
(
bm
)