Bolsonaro alone with his coup – Opinion

This is a constant fact throughout the government. The institutions failed to moderate Jair Bolsonaro. To make matters worse, their intemperance becomes even more vehement in the run-up to the election. You have the President of the Republic strictly without restrictions. But if the politico-institutional world was unable to contain Jair Bolsonaro, then Bolsonaro’s inability to involve the politico-institutional world in his dreams is also a fact.

There is no denying that Jair Bolsonaro has followers. However, even having won the trust of a part of the population, he remains in complete isolation in relation to his current most important banner, against elections and electoral justice. There is no party or civil society organization, and no political or civic leadership that can support their campaign against election integrity. For all Bolsonarist’s reasoning, society is not divided on this issue.

So much so that even the government’s allies – those to whom the Bolsonaro government gave generous chunks of the federal budget – have drifted away from the President of the Republic when it comes to electronic voting machines. They consider the matter closed, since Congress rejected the print PEC vote last year. Chamber Presidents Artur Lira (PP-AL) and Senate Presidents Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who, despite numerous allegations of liability crimes, have done much to keep Jair Bolsonaro in office, strongly dismiss any suspicions about the electoral system. Even Bolsonarist’s candidate for the São Paulo state government, Tarcisio de Freitas (Republicans-SP), admitted in an interview with Culture TV: “I believe in polls.”

If the isolation of Jair Bolsonaro was already visible, it became especially infamous after the ministries of defense and justice were involved in his attempt to control the elections, suggesting a parallel count of votes by the Armed Forces. There are many shortcomings in the country, but no one – neither the leadership nor the relevant structures – has spoken out in support of these illegal attacks on the electoral system. What we are seeing is more and more frequent statements in support of a democratic rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of elections, such as the statement made by the President of the Federation of Industry of the State of Sao Paulo (Fiesp), Josue Gomes da Silva, at a recent organization meeting. “This house stands for the strengthening of institutions and the judiciary,” President Fiesp said.

The message of the political and civic leaders is clear: no one wants a disruption of the democratic order, no one wants an electoral disorder, no one wants a candidate who rejected the results either before or after the election to be announced by the Higher Electoral Court (TSE). The will of the electorate is sovereign and will be respected.

There is a moment in the isolation of Jair Bolsonaro in his anti-election campaign that is worth noting. Political parties have a history of electoral justice. They know that, despite shortcomings and delays, the TSE enforces election legislation. Elections are not a world of lawlessness, as Jair Bolsonaro would like. A candidate who has committed an electoral crime does not take office, and if he does, then his mandate is subsequently annulled. In other words, no one wants to jeopardize their candidacy by launching an insane boleronist attack on the election.

It must also be recognized that Jair Bolsonaro’s political impotence goes beyond the issue of electoral integrity. Two years ago, the President of the Republic opened a government to Centrão, which began to give some political support to the Planalto Palace. But the alliance is far from stable or secure. For example, by choosing General Braga Netto as his deputy on his list, Jair Bolsonaro found himself in complete isolation among his allies. As his closest political circle has already understood, Bolsonaro’s coup is not a strength, but a weakness.