Between scamming and mockery

Image: Khoa Võ
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By CHICO ALENCAR*

Bolsonaro will not accept defeat at the polls

It is already evident that Jair Bolsonaro will not normally accept defeat at the polls. The question is how and when he will want to run over the electoral process. Will he be, again, trying to turn the tables on Sete de Setembro, as he rehearsed last year and already threatens to do this year? Is it creating confusion, with the help of his militia partners, on the 2nd of October itself? Or is it trying to approve, with the help of Centrão friends, a constitutional amendment that postpones the election?

One thing is clear, however: his demand that, alongside electronic voting, there be “paper and auditable voting”, with manual counting, is a mere pretext to spoil the game. After all, what to do if hundreds of people appear who, in bad faith, claim that their votes were not counted? Would the election be annulled in those polling stations?

Therefore, one thing must be clear: at this point, whoever attacks electronic voting – by the way, used at the Liberal Party (PL) convention that made the choice of Jair Bolsonaro’s name as a candidate for reelection a few days ago – must be automatically listed on the list of scammers.

But Jair Bolsonaro has been isolating himself more and more.

The grotesque spectacle that was the attempt to discredit the electoral system with the ambassadors ended up in the water. And, worse for the president, soon afterwards, the US State Department issued a note reaffirming its confidence in the reliability of our elections. Thus, if Jair Bolsonaro launches a coup, it would be the first in Latin American history to be launched without the support of the United States…

Then, another torpedo hit the president's plans: the gigantic adherence to the “Letter to Brazilian women and men in defense of the democratic rule of law”, which, in three days, surpassed 600 thousand signatures of support. And it was endorsed by representatives of the largest banks and by large businessmen in the country and entities such as Fiesp, Febraban, in addition to union centrals.

Thus, what was said above is valid again: a coup by Jair Bolsonaro would be the first in the history of Latin America to be launched without the support of big capital.

Would this picture ward off the threat of a table turn? Unfortunately not. We are not facing a normal citizen, but a sociopath.

Thus, at the same time that the opposition must continue to denounce hunger, misery, unemployment, high prices and Bolsonaro's anti-national and anti-popular policies, and present its proposals, it must also continue to be mobilized, denouncing the climate of turning tables that the president tries to deploy.

Without accepting provocations and avoiding open conflicts, one should not stop taking to the streets, offering them to neo-fascists. If we are not going to carry out direct confrontations on Sete de Setembro itself – maintaining only the traditional “Grito dos Excludos” – gigantic mobilizations are already being organized for 10/9, the following weekend. Thus, we will not abandon the streets!

Finally, it is worth remembering the importance of trying to resolve the election in the first round. This will characterize Jair Bolsonaro's social and political isolation, muffling the coup speech.

Last week, another survey was released. Datafolha. It does not change the picture substantially. Jair Bolsonaro's recent electoral measures (increasing the Auxílio Brasil to R$600, doubled gas vouchers, bonuses for truck drivers and taxi drivers and a drop in fuel prices) did not have a significant impact, which could still happen to some extent. But Lula's victory in the first round is close at hand.

If it is undemocratic to preach the withdrawal of non-competitive candidacies, which are legitimate and have the right to present themselves, it is inevitable that, given this situation, the electorate itself will opt for the candidate who has the possibility of settling the dispute in the first turn, making any coup adventure more difficult.

And there is yet another factor: on October 2, all federal and state deputies, senators and a good number of governors will also be elected – and many of them are from Jair Bolsonaro’s base. These people will not want the elections in which they won their mandates to be annulled.

Or will Jair Bolsonaro claim that the result was biased only in the presidential election?

If you do, you'll be a national laughingstock.

* Chico Alencar he is a history teacher, writer and councilor for Psol in the City Council of Rio de Janeiro.

 

 

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