Europe ‘uninvited’ and won’t watch Brazil election

Under pressure from the Brazilian government, Europe will not send a team to monitor the Brazilian elections in October. The decision has already been confirmed by sources from the European Union and Itamaraty.

On Monday, reporter João Paulo Charleaux from the Nexo website announced the news about the turnaround in European participation in the 2022 election process in Brazil. In the view of diplomats, this gesture risks revealing to Europeans the full difficulty of the TSE (Supreme Electoral Court) in preserving its independence.

TSE sent a letter to the European Union in March, inviting the bloc to initiate a process to become part of organizations that will monitor the elections in Brazil.

However, this gesture was met with anger by the Planalto Palace. Itamaraty himself issued a public statement suggesting he was against the invitation. Faced with backlash, TSE chose to signal to Europeans that the project could not be sustained. The first step will involve a delegation’s visit in May to assess whether such work can be undertaken and under what conditions.

“In preliminary discussions with representatives of the European Union, TSE found that not all the necessary conditions exist for a comprehensive election observation mission, which includes visits by dozens of technicians and addresses various issues related to the electoral system.” TSE said. “If the needs and interests of both parties are confirmed in the coming months, there may be a reduction in EU members’ technical participation in the election period,” he said.

Responsibility for failure at TSE is pointed to the Executive and pressures Itamaraty to complicate this invitation. Without visas and the structure available to observers, there would be no way to maintain an invitation to foreigners.

Itamaraty made it clear in its statement in April that it was working in coordination with TSE. However, he said, “Concerning a final invitation to the European Union mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminds us that there is no evaluation by an international organization of which Brazil is not part of its tradition.”

“It should be noted that the European Union, unlike, for example, the OAS and the OSCE, does not send electoral delegations to its member states,” the Foreign Ministry said.

However, Itamaraty acknowledged that other collaboration processes are already underway. “Among the tasks, we highlight invitations to the Organization of American States (OAS) such as the 2018 and 2020 elections, and preliminary agreements with the Commonwealth of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) and specialist organizations. The Carter Center and the Association of Inter-American Electoral Organizations (Uniore) ) like,” he said.

Diplomatic sources confirmed in the column that the work to monitor the OAS within the government is seen as “less intrusive” and that the regional establishment tends not to adopt the same tone of criticism as Europeans in the face of possible irregularities.

Europe confirms TSE puts responsibility on Bolsonaro government

On the Brussels side, the spokesperson of the European Commission explained that there is no formal and final invitation yet and that the first thing to do will be an evaluation process.

“To clarify the various information that has been disclosed, the EU first received an invitation letter from the Supreme Electoral Court in early March. This will examine the usefulness, desirability and feasibility of establishing a full-fledged EU Election Observation Mission.” “However, TSE has informed us that it will not follow up on your request from March due to reservations expressed by the Brazilian government. Under these circumstances, we will not send an exploratory mission to Brazil to evaluate a possible EU Election. Observation Mission.” he explained.

“In general, sending an election delegation to a host country always requires a formal letter of invitation and a general consensus among the country’s institutions on whether to invite a delegation or not, which is not currently the case in Brazil,” the European Commission said.

Election is a matter of international concern

However, the Brazilian election has already become the target of international concern, especially given the questions raised by President Jair Bolsonaro regarding the polls. But political violence in the country is also worrying.

In April, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the UN’s rapporteur on the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association, urged authorities to provide safe spaces for civil society and expressed concern about restrictions on Brazilians’ rights to full and active social participation and politics. .

But one of the rapporteur’s most important warnings refers to political violence against social leaders, candidates and elected political leaders, particularly Afro-ancestry and transgender women. According to him, this poses a serious threat to political participation and democracy.

Regarding the 2022 elections, he said the state should ensure that all electoral processes are free from discrimination, disinformation, fake news and hate speech. “I ask the state to protect candidates and candidates from any form of threat or attack, online and offline,” he said.

For the Brazilian Committee of Human Rights Defenders, the rapporteur’s visit in April was significant. “Thus, the United Nations can be even more vigilant in 2022 by cooperating to ensure that the electoral process in the country in 2022 takes place in a free, democratic and informed manner, with the guarantee of strong political and social participation of the people. The Brazilian population,” said the entity. In a letter to the rapporteur, the same message is signed by organizations such as Amnesty International and Ecumenical Service Coordination.