After Bolsonaro’s criticism, Washington praises the electoral system
In the midst of his campaign for his re-election as president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro questioned his country’s electoral system on Monday.
Jair Bolsonaro is given a very large loser for the upcoming presidential election in October.
AFP
The Brazilian elections “serve as a model in the world,” the United States Embassy in Brazil said on Tuesday, the day following statements by President Jair Bolsonaro once once more questioning the Brazilian electoral system.
“The elections in Brazil, tested over time by the electoral system and democratic institutions, serve as a model for nations in the hemisphere and around the world,” the US Embassy said in a note released by its Press service.
Monday, in a speech of almost an hour in front of several dozen ambassadors, the Brazilian head of state said he wanted to “correct the flaws” of the electoral system three months before the presidential election, once once more attacking the electronic voting system.
For months, the far-right president has been instilling the idea that the ballot might be fraudulent due to electronic voting, without providing the slightest proof in a country where this formula has demonstrated its reliability since 1996.
“The United States has confidence in the strength of Brazil’s democratic institutions. The country has a strong record of free and fair elections, with transparency and high levels of participation,” the US Embassy said.
Jair Bolsonaro’s statements sparked a strong reaction on Monday from the president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Edson Fachin, for whom “it is time to say enough of disinformation. It is also time to say no to authoritarian populism, which threatens the achievements of the 1988 Constitution”.
Jair Bolsonaro was largely a loser in October once morest the left-wing ex-head of state Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. For some analysts, his criticism of the electoral system is intended to prepare the ground for a challenge to the results of the polls and possibly serious political unrest.
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