The big question of the elections in Brazil: Will Jair Bolsonaro accept the result if he loses?

Brazil faces this Sunday the second round of the elections with the question of whether the president Jair Bolsonaro will accept a possible defeat after sowing suspicion against the voting system for months in true Donald Trump style.

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Despite having lowered the tone of his threats, the far-right leader remains elusive about what his reaction will be if he loses to the former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvafavorite in the polls.

Last week, the head of state stated in an interview with several media outlets that, if nothing “abnormal” happens, “there is no reason to doubt the outcome of the elections.”

Without detailing what he would consider “abnormal”, he immediately insinuated, contrary to the polls, that he sees himself as a favorite because of what he observes “on the streets” and that he feels that “there is a huge difference” with respect to Lula.

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“But we are going to the polls, we are going to leave that issue with the electoral transparency commission”indicated the retired Army captain who, after strong pressure, managed to get the Armed Forces to integrate that control body.

Sources from the Center for Defense and National Security (Cedesen) in Brazil, a private organization that brings together former ministers in the area and former high-ranking military officers, believe that if Bolsonaro loses, “he will question the result”, as “happened in the United States” with then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

“What we don’t know is if there will be any violent reaction, as happened in the US”, These sources told EFE, alluding to the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.

relentless criticism

Bolsonaro did not question the result of the first round of October 2, in which he obtained 43.2% of the votes against 48.4% of Lulabut days later he suggested, without evidence, that the vote count proceeded as if programmed by an “algorithm.”

He also referred to electronic ballot boxes, which the country has used since 1996 and have not been the subject of complaints since then, as an “obsolete” and “old-fashioned” system.

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Months before, he even assured that they were promoting “fraud” and last year he threatened not to recognize the result, if Lula, already soaring in the polls, won the elections.

In parallel, the Government also ordered an investigation of the demographic companies, which it suspects of “manipulating” the polls prior to the first round in favor of its adversary.

The Liberal Party (PL), the acronym with which it is running for re-election, and a sector of the Armed Forces, whose role in the elections was barely limited to logistical tasks until this year, have been dragged into this discrediting campaign.

Unprecedented leading role of the Armed Forces.

Bolsonarowho went so far as to propose that the military carry out a parallel recount of the votes, has admitted that the Army’s Cyber ​​Defense Command “has been working before, now and will continue to do so during the second round of elections.”

Regarding the preliminary conclusions of that audit, nothing has transpired. The Superior Electoral Court demanded the presentation of the results to the Ministry of Defense, which informed that it will only release them after the ballot.

Despite all the noise, the cited sources insisted on separating the Ministry of Defense, a “political position” held today by a military man, General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, with the leadership of the Armed Forces.

“I think that the Armed Forces. They are not going to enter into any political move to challenge the result, whatever it may be. They are not going to get involved, nor are they going to interfere in that process”, they pointed.

And they added: “No one is going to interfere to annul the result. Brazilian institutions, despite everything, are still strong”.

Praised by international observers and with more than 30 layers of security, according to the authorities, the electronic voting system allows the calculation of votes in a few hours in a country that today has some 156 million voters.

Bolsonaro he was elected deputy five times and a president with the same system that he tried to change on the eve of the elections by adding the paper vote, an initiative that overturned Congress.

His constant attacks on the electoral process also generated a wave of rejection that united the most diverse sectors of society, from employers to unions, including artists and academics, through manifestos that gathered more than a million signatures.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.