On the eve of ending his term, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) broadcast live on the internet this Friday (30th) to report on his management and comment on the country’s current political moment.
Next Sunday, January 1st, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) takes office as the new president.
The live broke a long period of silence for Bolsonaro, who chose to retire after his defeat in the elections and after a health problem. The last live made by him had been in the week before the second round of the elections.
Over the course of 50 minutes, Bolsonaro spoke about the advances and challenges faced by his government, in particular with the occurrence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and also highlighted factors that made his mandate difficult, such as the frequent conflicts with Justices of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the impacts of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We won these four years with a very positive balance despite the problems we had. No head of state that I am aware of here in Brazil has faced anything like this,” he declared.
Regarding the demonstrations by his supporters across the country, which have been ongoing since the end of the elections, Bolsonaro said that the acts are legitimate and that there is misrepresentation by authorities and part of the press regarding the real intentions of the demonstrators.
He denied participation or involvement in the organization of these acts and asked supporters to continue their opposition to the Lula da Silva government without violence.
“I believe in patriotism, intelligence, determination. I know what you went through during these two months of protests, with sun, rain. It won’t get lost. Images went outside Brazil. Here, millions of people woke up to study why we had these manifestations. People started to understand what they have to lose, what Brazilian politics is,” said Bolsonaro.
“The picture we have ahead of us now, starting January 1st, is not good. That’s why we’re not going to throw in the towel, stop opposing, stop criticizing, stop talking to our neighbors, now with much more ownership and knowledge. Shall we go all or nothing? No! It’s not all or nothing. Intelligence! We have to show that we are different from the other side – we respect the laws and the Constitution, we know how to value freedom,” he emphasized.
Bolsonaro’s message comes after episodes of vandalism and the attempt to use an explosive device by protesters dissatisfied with the result of the elections. A man was arrested accused of trying to blow up a bomb near Brasilia airport.
In a statement to the police, the suspect stated that the idea was to create “chaos” and that the act was planned in the camp installed in front of the Army headquarters. Bolsonaro said in the live that “nothing justifies this attempted terrorist act in the airport region.”
During the broadcast, Bolsonaro also criticized what he considers the excesses of the Judiciary in relation to his supporters and presented a balance sheet with the main advances that occurred during his term.
Among the main accomplishments, he mentioned the reduction of inflation and the recovery of jobs after the international economic crisis as a result of the pandemic, the record reduction in homicides, actions to privatize and reduce bureaucracy and reduce taxes.
“The whole world had been suffering from inflation, and we tamed inflation. We had three months of deflation in Brazil – together with the Parliament, and not with the stroke of a pen. We zeroed federal taxes on fuel, we put a ceiling on ICMS. Today we still have gasoline on average at R$5 throughout Brazil, which reached around R$8. Everything is foreseen in the budget so that federal taxes will continue to be zero next year. But the new government, as reported by the press, wants federal taxes to be collected again starting in January. So, by all indications, gasoline goes up by almost one real from January 1st,” he said.
BOLSONARO QUESTIONS TREATMENT GIVEN TO PROTESTERS
When commenting on the protests of supporters, the current president condemned the way in which part of the press has addressed the acts and reinforced that he is in favor of his supporters who commit any crimes to answer for their actions.
He said, however, that there is an attempt to criminalize protesters by labeling them anti-democratic or violent.
“The stabbing I received [in 2018] was from a former member of the PSOL, which is a satellite party of the PT. And the press didn’t talk about it, it didn’t take it to the ideological issue. He didn’t mention PSOList, PTist, leftist. Nowadays if a person commits a slip, a crime, or does something reprehensible by society, he is a ‘bolsonarist’,” he questioned.
Another point criticized by Bolsonaro in relation to sectors of the press was regarding a possible leniency in relation to the excesses of the Judiciary in ordering the arrests of critics of STF Justices. “This lack of freedom forundermines democracy. And that, in the future, if it continues, it will catch everyone. The oxygen of democracy is freedom,” he declared.
“Nowadays, if you talk about ballot boxes, you have a serious problem. And if you are a parliamentarian, you can lose your mandate, as Francischini [Fernando Francischini, former state congressman for Paraná] lost. Our freedoms are being taken away. It’s up to us to fight it. Discuss the issues that, by discussing, you improve.”
CRITICISM OF THE ELECTORAL JUSTICE
Commenting on this year’s elections, Bolsonaro said that there was a lack of impartiality on the part of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), with the court’s favorable stance towards Lula da Silva’s campaign.
One of the most criticized points was the decision of the president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes – later confirmed by the other Justices – to reject the action presented by the Bolsonaro coalition to invalidate the votes of 59.2% of the electronic ballot boxes used in the second round of the election.
At the time, the Justice denied entering into the merits of the complaint and condemned the coalition to pay a fine of R$22.9 million for “litigation in bad faith.”
For Bolsonaro, such abusive decisions stimulated the protests that began after the election result. “For any measure of force there is always a reaction. You always have to seek dialogue to resolve things, you can’t punch the table and the subject is no longer discussed. This all brought a mass of people to the streets. And that mass, looking for security, went to the barracks.”
The president also said that the acts are not coordinated and that he did not participate in the organization of the protests.
As for the accusation of critics that he would plot a coup d’état due to the demonstrations, Bolsonaro refuted the accusation.
He said that “no one wants an adventure. At no time I wanted to do anything wrong, violating anything. I understand that I did my part and I am still doing it within the four lines [pitch],” he said.
With information from Gazeta do Povo