Brazil’s first lady, Jair Bolsonaro’s letter to seize the women’s vote

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, is betting on a domestic solution to an electoral problem: giving more exposure to the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, to reduce female rejection ahead of the October election.

Bolsonaro’s wife, 40, caused a stir on Sunday when she greeted Brazilian mothers on a national radio and TV channel for their day, an unpublished message since the president’s mandate began, in 2019.

“Being a mother is the most sacred of responsibilities,” begins Michelle, wishing a happy day to “all heroin mothers” in Brazil.

Together with the Minister for Women and Human Rights, the first lady reflected on motherhood and mentioned government assistance programs for women, which gave her a Opposition complaint for early campaign.

A few days earlier, a video of him went viral in which, during a cult of the evangelical parliamentary caucus – a movement he says – he showed up on his knees, crying and praying for an “awakening” of the powers. .

Strategy

The first lady’s appearances were part of a campaign strategy for Bolsonaro’s re -election, that is trying to reduce the “big decline” among female votersone of the most elusive sides opposing him, among other things, for his sexist comments, the president’s allies admitted.

“Michelle softened the president’s image and, in addition to women, reached out to other audiences for her work for the deaf,” whose language she dominates, and “for her social work in the church,” an adviser to the far -right president told AFP. .

The collaborator expected that the first lady will have a corresponding role in television propaganda in the campaignwhich will begin in August.

Michelle is a member of an evangelical church in Rio de Janeiro and has close relationships with pastors and deputies of the evangelical caucus in Brasilia. He met Bolsonaro in 2007, when he was a deputy and he worked in Congress as a secretary. Twenty -seven years his junior, he became his third wife.

Although he was far from the sparks in the campaign that brought his wife to the presidency, from the first day of government he began to gain visibility, while also leading the coordination of an official volunteer program called Patria Voluntaria.

But in recent months he has multiplied his appearances, accompanying his wife on official trips and also participating in an action with electoral rhetoric in Brasilia at the end of March, where he kissed her on stage.

The electoral weight of women

Women make up the majority (53%) on the electoral roll in Brazil, with a difference of nearly 9 million more than men.

Polls show an imbalance between support for Bolsonaro and his biggest rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, between men and women, a sector in which the former president doubled his voting intentions. in their polls.

“The female electorate is the most elusive group for Bolsonaro and which is where she must work hard if she wants to be elected again,” Adriano Laureno, an analyst at Prospectiva consultancy, told AFP.

Lula appears in the polls as the favorite for the Oct. 2 election, but Bolsonaro reduced the advantage.

A poll by consulting firm Ipespe on May 5 showed that the left is leading the race at Planalto Palace with 44% compared to 31%. The advantage, among women, is widening: 47% to 25%.

The president himself ironically commented on the data last February, assuring supporters that “according to the polls, women didn’t vote for me, the majority voted for the left, but I don’t believe in polls . “

Laureno rated Michelle as the “primary electoral instrument” of the president to conquer the feminine and religious vote through the speech “linked to the traditional family”.

Bolsonaro finds resistance especially among women believers, a profile she often clashes with free arms policy in the civilian population, according to analysts.

In addition, the president had a controversial relationship with organized women’s groups.

Before the 2018 election, he faced massive protests under the slogan #EleNão (He is not), prompted by his sexist statements, as in 2014 he told a deputy he was “too ugly” for ” rape “.

In another of his most memorable phrases, Bolsonaro, father of five, said that after four boys he had “weakness and a woman came”, Laura, who was with Michelle.

Source: AFP

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