The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, questioned the Brazilian electoral system again on Monday, before several dozen ambassadors, less than three months before the presidential elections in which all the polls predict a defeat for him.

“We want to correct the flaws, we want transparency, a real democracy,” said the far-right president, once again attacking the electronic ballot box.

“They constantly accuse me of (fostering a) coup. We are in time to solve the problem, with the participation of the armed forces”, added the Head of State, when making a PowerPoint presentation of the electoral system.

Jair Bolsonaro spoke for almost an hour at the Alvorada Palace, in front of the ambassadors strictly invited to listen to him on this issue, in particular from France or Spain. The ambassadors of China and Argentina, being very important partners of Brazil, had not been invited, for unspecified reasons.

low in the polls

Bolsonaro was largely an underdog in October to former leftist head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. His criticism of the electoral system is aimed at setting the stage for contested election results and possible serious political unrest, analysts fear.

During a Senate hearing last week, Defense Minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira had proposed “a parallel vote” with a specially designed ballot box to collect paper ballots, the only way to avoid fraud, according to the president.

“We are three months away from the election, the proposal of the armed forces nullifies in practice the possibility of manipulation (…) We cannot face an election (organized) in absentia,” said the president.