A petition for “the defense of democracy” in Brazil has collected more than half a million signatures, including those of important businessmen, in response to President Jair Bolsonaro’s criticism of the institutions and the electoral system.
Launched by members of the Law School of the University of São Paulo (USP), this “Letter to Brazilian men and women in defense of the democratic rule of law” surpassed 546,000 signatures on Saturday at noon, two months into presidential elections.
“We are living in a moment of great danger for democratic normality, of risk for the institutions, with insinuations of disrespect for the results of the elections”, believe the authors of the text, also signed by former Supreme Court magistrates, and many artists, such as the famous singer Chico Buarque.
“The unfounded and unproven attacks call into question the electoral process and the democratic rule of law conquered with great struggle by Brazilian society. The threats against other powers (…), the incitement to violence and the institutional rupture they are intolerable,” continues the petition, which at no time cites President Bolsonaro by name.
Change of course in business circles
The head of state, in power since early 2019 and running for a second term, has continued to criticize the electronic voting system in place in Brazil since 1996, fueling fears that he will not recognize the result of the presidential election if he wins.
USP’s petition gathered the signatures of important business associations, such as the federation of banks (Febraban) and the very influential Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp).
A membership seen by many observers as a setback, since the business community supported Jair Bolsonaro during his election in 2018, attracted in particular by the ultra-liberal discourse of the current Economy Minister, Paulo Guedes.
The far-right president did not hide his displeasure. “Who is against democracy in Brazil? We are for transparency, legality, we respect the constitution. I did not understand this request,” he reacted on Thursday, during his weekly live on Facebook.
In a survey by the Datafolha reference institute published this Thursday, he is 18 points behind former left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), the great favorite on the ballot with 47% of voting intentions, compared to 29.% for Jair Bolsonaro.
Source: BFM TV
