RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After the failure of negotiations to send observers from the European Union (EU), the Superior Electoral Court TSE has added several European experts to the list of “invited” observers for the elections in Brazil next October, official sources said today.
“We invited the European Union to send an observer mission to the elections, but it was not possible to continue negotiations because some conditions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were not met,” said the president of the TSE, Edson Fachin, in a virtual press conference with foreign correspondents in Brazil.
The top electoral authority acknowledged that the presence of the European Union observer mission at the October presidential, regional and legislative elections in Latin America’s largest democracy was not materializing because it did not have the approval of Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, which was met with public opposition from the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“This does not mean that guests from European Union countries will not come. Nothing will prevent various specialists and authorities from European countries, which we will include in a list of independent observers that we will publish this month, from being present at the elections,” the magistrate added.
The magistrate assured that the court has the autonomy to draw up the list of independent guests without having to be approved by the government, adding that the list will include representatives of countries that are not part of the international missions that have received authorization to observe the elections in Brazil, including the Organization of American States (OAS), the Mercosur Parliament and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
“Between 50 and 60 guests are expected, mainly from Latin American and European countries. We are in the final stages of drawing up the list and will publish it this month,” added Fachin, who said that among the guests already confirmed is a significant electoral authority from Portugal.
The tribunal president added that another international organization likely to be an international observer at the Brazilian elections is the Carter Center from the United States.
“The presence of the Carter Center is practically confirmed, and we will most likely have them as observers, but it still depends on them guaranteeing to fund,” he said.
When the possibility of the EU sending an observer mission became known, the Bolsonaro government, through the Foreign Ministry, responded with an official note indicating that it was not in favor of it.
“With regard to a possible invitation of a European Union mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls that it is not Brazil’s tradition to be evaluated by an international organization to which it does not belong,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Last month, Bolsonaro, who is seeking re-election but ranks second by a wide margin to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in polls on voting intentions, repeated his criticism of the presence of international observer missions in statements in which he again questioned the transparency and reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system.