MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro insists Judiciary wants him to lose reelection

Bolsonaro has been consistently narrowing the gap with Lula. Photo: REUTERS / ADRIANO MACHADO

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro of the rightwing Liberal Party (PL) Monday insisted the country's Judiciary wanted him to lose this year's elections, following Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes' decision to ban Telegram unless some content was removed.

De Moraes Saturday ordered the messaging app to eliminate from its platforms some statements from pro-Bolsonaro groups labeled as “fake news,” in addition to abiding by other legal requirements. After the company acquiesced, all measures were annulled Sunday.

Bolsonaro stressed during a radio interview the magistrate sought to favor opposition candidate Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. “We cannot have elections under a cloak of distrust, this is bad for Brazil,” the incumbent President said as he stressed there were “some judges” involved in a conspiracy to leave him “out of combat to elect Lula”.

The retired Army captain focused on De Moraes, one of the 11 members of the Supreme Federal Court who in four months will also take over the rotating presidency of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

“We know what the position of Alexandre De Moraes is,” Bolsonaro pointed out. “It is not news what he says, it is clear that it is a relentless persecution against me,” Bolsonaro went on. In this scenario, Bolsonaro underlined the importance of the Armed Forces being represented in the TSE. ”The Armed Forces are going to participate as guests in this issue (elections), the Armed Forces will do their part and the TSE will do theirs.“

Bolsonaro has questioned the credibility of the electronic ballot boxes used in his country. Last year he disclosed a secret report by the Federal Police regarding alleged sabotage against the ballot boxes perpetrated by hackers, after which the STF - through Judge Moraes - launched a probe against the head of state.

Among De Moraes' demands to Telegram was to remove the link to the secret Federal Police documents which Bolsonaro had made public in order to support his claims against the electronic ballot box.

”I don't believe in polls, but the guy who practically destroyed Brazil is ahead,“ Bolsonaro also said Monday. ”Either the surveys are fraudulent or people are not well informed.”

Lula is said to be around 14 percentage points ahead, but Bolsonaro has been consistently narrowing the gap over the past few weeks.

The Workers' Party (PT) left-wing former president is ahead by 43% of the votes against Bolsonaro's 29%, according to pollsters FSB Pesquisa. If that gap holds over time, Lula would win in the first round Oct. 2. If a runoff is needed (scheduled for Oct. 30), Lula's margin would be 19%.

Lula, a former steelworker union leader, served as president for two terms, between 2003 and 2010. His government was marked by funding for social programs to reduce poverty. His government stuck to agreements with the International Monetary Fund, paying off loans two years early in 2005. Brazil helped found the BRICS economic cooperation alliance with Russia, India, China, and South Africa in 2006.

Lula was tried for corruption and jailed in January 2018. Following revelations of a conspiracy between the judge in the trial and a leading prosecutor to convict him and thus keep him from running again for office, Lula was released in November 2019 and his convictions were later overturned.

Bolsonaro has faced widespread protests in middle-class neighborhoods over his attitude to the COVID-19 pandemic, which he dismissed as a “sniffle.”