President Jair Bolsonaro launched the first, Tuesday, the official campaign for the October presidential election in Brazil by choosing, like the other favorite, ex-President Lula, a place that has deeply marked his political career: the one where he was close to death in 2018.
At midday, Jair Bolsonaro was in the state of Minas Gerais, in Juiz de Fora — “the city where I was born again,” he said in the introduction to his speech. The former army captain, 67, pushed the symbolism down to the smallest detail by climbing onto a platform installed on the same crossroads where he had been stabbed by an unbalanced man.
“God, country, family and freedom”
Dressed in a black jacket buttoned up to the neck concealing the shapes of a bulletproof vest, Jair Bolsonaro gave a speech loaded with patriotic declarations and allusions to God and the Bible. He reiterated his pledge to fight double-digit inflation, abortion, drugs, and defend ‘private property’, brandishing ‘communist’ threat to Brazil if he loses October election to rival Lula.
” mito, mito, mito (“Myth, myth, myth”), chanted the supporters of the far-right leader gathered around the slogan “God, fatherland, family and freedom”, several of whom were dressed in t-shirts in the colors of Brazil.
Jair Bolsonaro then invited “the most important person here” to speak: the first lady, a devout evangelical Christian who received an ovation as much if not more than her husband. Michelle Bolsonaro invited the audience to close their eyes and recite the Our father.
“This is our future, […] the future of the family, of the homeland, most of the people who are here are faithful to God,” Marcio Bargiona, a 55-year-old former police officer, told AFP.
“The cleanup started four years ago, I want it to continue, I want the left to be rooted out of the country,” said Jaqueline Lopes, a 50-year-old teacher from Rio de Janeiro.
Symbolism
Favorite in the polls, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 76, will also make a campaign entry filled with symbolism: an automobile factory in his stronghold of Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, an industrial area where he was a milling turner before to become a union leader.
“Lula has always gone there during key moments in his political career, to reinforce his image as a representative of the workers,” Adriano Laureno, political analyst at the consultancy firm Prospectiva, told AFP.
“As for Bolsonaro, he wants to present himself as a” chosen by God “who survived the attack” of 2018, continues this specialist, for whom this election is “the most polarized since the redemocratization” of the country after the military dictatorship. from 1964 to 1985.
The two favorites have already been crisscrossing the country for several weeks to get in touch with voters, but the official campaign, with partisan rallies and distribution of leaflets, is only authorized from this Tuesday.
The television commercials will not be broadcast until August 26.
This Tuesday was also marked in the early evening by the enthronement of Judge Alexandre de Moraes as President of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). This Supreme Court magistrate is one of President Bolsonaro’s pet peeves, against whom he ordered the opening of an investigation for disseminating false information about the electoral system.
The Head of State has constantly questioned the reliability of the electronic ballot boxes used in the country since 1996, citing “fraud” without ever providing evidence. Attacks that raise fears that he will not recognize the result of the ballot in the event of defeat.
Advantage for Lula
Monday evening, a survey by the IPEC institute gave a comfortable advantage to the former left-wing president, with 44% of voting intentions in the first round, against 32% for the current head of state. The gap is closing, however. At the end of July, an opinion poll by the other benchmark institute, Datafolha, reported a larger gap: 47% for Lula, 29% for Bolsonaro.
The Head of State intends to catch up with the social aid recently approved by Parliament in a controversial amendment to the Constitution, which exceptionally authorizes new expenditure during the electoral period.
The main concern of Brazilians, according to polls, is the economic situation, marked in recent years by high levels of unemployment and inflation, which have undermined Bolsonaro’s popularity.