MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Lula says “stupid” Bolsonaro shall not win 2022 elections

“Rest assured that the people will appoint a new president in 2022,” Lula told Bolsonaro through social media

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) Tuesday asked current President Jair Bolsonaro to stop being “stupid” and forecast the latter shall not be reelected in October 2022.

“Now Bolsonaro says that if he is defeated in the elections, he will not hand over the presidential sash ... Bolsonaro, stop being stupid, stop being stupid; nobody wants to hand over the sash, rest assured that the people will appoint a new president in 2022, and it will not be you,” Lula posted on social media.

Bolsonaro had pushed for a change in the voting system to printed ballots, something which the opposition has been stalling repeatedly. The President maintains the current electronic system is particularly suitable for all types of fraud, although it is also the method used in 2018 when he won.

Traditionally, the transfer of powers occurs in Brazil when the outgoing president hands over the presidential sash to his successor at the inauguration, something that Bolsonaro advanced that he will not do “if there is fraud.”

Lula leads all opinion polls for the presidential elections of October 2022, even though he has not yet officially confirmed his candidacy.

“Bolsonaro, instead of talking nonsense about the printed vote, he should talk about how he is going to generate jobs, about how he is going to put food on the people's table,” Lula went on posting.