The former Brazilian president and candidate for the presidential elections on October 2 criticized the political use that the Brazilian head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, made of the day of the bicentennial of independence.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, in a video posted on social media on Wednesday, that while he was head of state he never took political advantage of September 7, Brazil’s independence day.
“As President of the Republic, I had the opportunity, in 2006 and 2010, at election time and at no time did we use the Fatherland Day, the Brazilian People’s Day, the biggest day of our country for independence, as an instrument. . of electoral campaign politics,” said the candidate, leader in all the polls.
Lula da Silva accused the current president of trying to “attack” him instead of talking about the social and economic problems that the Brazilian people are experiencing.
Bolsonaro “should have been explaining how the family raised 26 million reais” [cerca de cinco milhões de euros] cash to buy 51 properties,” he added.
Minutes before, the candidate for the presidential elections in Brazil, Ciro Gomes, had criticized the head of state.
“Bolsonaro turned September 7, the 200th anniversary of independence, into the most shameless electoral rally ever held in this country,” the third place in the polls (9%) for the October 2 elections wrote on the social network Twitter.
“There were other serious political, institutional and moral transgressions. Brazilians demand legal action!” Ciro Gomes denounced.
Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro were the scene today of the largest parades of the bicentennial of independence, which ended up becoming, in practice, a political rally for Jair Bolsonaro, less than a month before the presidential elections.
Since Bolsonaro took office, a day that once belonged to all Brazilians has become a holiday to demonstrate the political strength of the conservative right. The Brazilian flag and the shirt of the ‘canarinha’ of the Brazilian soccer team have also become symbols of ‘Bolsonarismo’.
After the civic-military parade to commemorate the bicentennial of independence in Brasilia, Bolsonaro crossed the Esplanada dos Ministérios, along with his wife, Michelle, and went up to an electric trio, an improvised stage, to address the thousands of supporters who they expected. to the.
“This is a fight of good against evil, the evil that lasted 14 years in our country,” he said, referring to the governments of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff (Workers’ Party).
“They won’t come back,” he exclaimed, to the delight of the thousands of sympathizers who sang one of the classic chants against Lula: “Lula thief, your place is jail.”
Seeing the Esplanada dos Ministérios covered in “green and yellow,” Bolsonaro said he doubted the polls that put him in second place in the presidential race.
Despite the strong speech, this time Bolsonaro did not question the electoral system, nor did he attack the judges, a position that had already been anticipated by analysts quoted by the local press who said they believed that the current president’s tone would be even softer. to alleviate his rejection rate, which less than a month after his electoral ‘clash’ with Lula da Silva stands at 52%.
Bolsonaro then went to Rio de Janeiro to join the rallies and ask for votes, in a speech on Copacabana beach during an act that combined electoral propaganda with the celebrations of the bicentennial of the country’s independence.
“I’m not very polite, I swear, but I’m not a thief,” stressed the head of state in reference to his main rival in the presidential race.
Surveys released in Brazil show that Lula da Silva leads the presidential race with more than 44% of voting intentions, followed by Bolsonaro, who has more than 30% support so far.
The Portuguese head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, witnessed the civic-military parade on September 7, on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, right in the center of the gallery, together with Bolsonaro.
Source: TSF
