The Brazilian political analyst Carolina Botelho considers that, 30 days after the electoral defeat, the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, did not collaborate with the transition of power as expected of a leader in a democracy.
A political researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo and the Laboratory of Electoral Studies, Political Communication and Public Opinion of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, the expert stressed that the current government official did not provide “any kind of robust collaboration” or did what “is expected of a democratic republican government” after being defeated in the second round of the presidential elections, on October 30, by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
I don’t see any commitment [de Bolsonaro] in transferring to the transitional Government the raw material of a Government, which is information and transparency for the future application of the public policies necessary for those who will exercise the next mandate. This is a commitment that the current government must have and [Bolsonaro] has not complied,” he said.
Virtually confined for the last thirty days, Bolsonaro gave only two public speeches after the vote in which he was defeated. In both cases, he called for an end to the blockades organized by truckers that had closed the country’s highways, calling for a military intervention that would prevent the inauguration of Lula da Silva and keep the current ruler in power.
Such a stance goes against the belligerent behavior that Bolsonaro adopted during much of his tenure. For Carolina Botelho, the lack of collaboration from the current government official and part of his team is not surprising, as well as his silence, which she explained as ambiguous and purposeful.
“The president’s silence has become a bit ambiguous and he, as always, tries to take advantage of that ambiguity. For four years, [Bolsonaro] in fact, he attacked the Constitution and Brazilian institutions while he was withdrawing to try to apologize behind the scenes by contacting some public authorities so that he would not be punished,” he noted.
Like other analysts, the political scientist appreciated that silence and non-acknowledgment of defeat after the elections are part of Bolsonaro’s strategy “to encourage militancy” and show that “he refuses to comply with the democratic pact to announce the other Government”, that is to say, it will not demonstrate that it lost and that the defeat is part of the democratic game to try to delegitimize the future government before a part of the population.
“At the same time, he [Bolsonaro] does not promise to be subject to condemnation in the future [judiciais] keeping silence It is known that this silence is almost dramatized because, behind the scenes, his sympathizers and people linked to the Government have become militants to maintain the demonstrations. [contra o resultado da eleição] active,” he reflected.
“So with this silence he [Bolsonaro] wants to win on both sides. Win by not being the focus of future convictions and punishments [judiciais] and at the same time it encourages participation in militancy by not discouraging these groups that are on the street,” he added.
Questioned about whether this ambiguity that fuels the resistance movements to the electoral result will cause problems for Lula da Silva’s inauguration, Carolina Botelho is concerned.
“It’s dangerous, obviously. They are very violent moves and it is not known exactly what level of violence will be used in the next action. Brazil comes from a scenario of growing political violence. She was assassinated at her birthday party because she was a PT militant [Partido dos Trabalhadores]“Recalled Carolina Botelho in reference to a case that occurred before the vote and that shocked the country.
“These movements of political violence have grown alarmingly with the collusion of part of the contribution of the current government,” he added.
Regarding the demonstrations and camps of the ‘Bolsonaristas’ in front of Army headquarters in cities like Brasilia and São Paulo, the specialist recalled that it is necessary to identify their leaders and considered that they are not spontaneous.
“When we talk about this resistance, it seems that it is a very spontaneous organization of a large electorate of society, but no, that is not true. The day of such resistance, ”he noted.
On the impact of Bolsonaro’s lack of collaboration with the transition of power on the country’s image and on the possibility of refusing to pass the presidential sash to Lula da Silva at the inauguration ceremony, as Donald Trump did in the United States, Carolina Botelho pondered that “the world already has clarity to differentiate what Brazil is in fact and what Bolsonarismo and the legacy of Bolsonaro represent.”
“I think there is clarity about what Bolsonaro is, ‘Bolsonarismo’ and what Brazil is, in fact. They are part of Brazil, but they are not Brazil. They are a part of Brazil that must be observed, investigated and, if applicable, sanctioned,” he concluded.
Source: TSF
