The relationship of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has been marked by attacks and curses made by the Chief Executive to ministers, with preference given to those who are part of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Among Bolsonaro’s preferred targets are ministers Luís Roberto Barroso, Luiz Fachin and Alexandre de Moraes. In common, the three have – or will have – the presidency of the TSE in their curriculum. Fachin is the current boss. He is Barroso’s successor and will be succeeded by Moraes.
The attacks on the Electoral Court are justified by the president’s obsession with discrediting the country’s voting process. The theme is the center of a new collision course between Bolsonaro and Barroso. This time, the Chief Executive had the support of the Ministry of Defense in the clash.
:: Analysis | STF x Defense: who offends the ranks? ::
After Barroso said, at an event abroad, that the Armed Forces were being “convened” to delegitimize the elections, General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Defense Minister, published a note with harsh criticism of the magistrate.
Asshole, idiot and son of a bitch…
In July last year, Bolsonaro called Barroso, then president of the TSE, “idiot” and “imbecile” when talking about the printed vote: “Only an idiot to do that there. He’s an imbecile. A man cannot want to decide the future of Brazil in fraud”, he said.
The following month, in August, Barroso was called a “son of a bitch” by Bolsonaro during a meeting with supporters in Joinville. “That son of a bitch (…) is after me. That son of a bitch Barroso,” he said.
“Scoundrel”
During the September 7 demonstrations of last year, which marked the height of tension between Bolsonaro and the Supreme Court, the president called Alexandre de Moraes a “scoundrel” and threatened to try to remove him from office in front of a crowd on Avenida Paulista. .
“Get out, Alexandre de Moraes, stop being a scoundrel, stop oppressing the Brazilian people,” said the chief executive at the time.
“In our Federal Supreme Court, a minister dares to continue doing what we do not admit, a minister who should watch over our freedom, democracy, the Constitution, and does exactly the opposite. Either that minister fits or he asks to leave,” he declared.
Days earlier, Moraes had issued a search and seizure order against supporters of the president and blocked the bank accounts of entities suspected of financing acts in favor of the president and against the Court.
“sucker”
In July last year, Bolsonaro called Moraes a “sucker” commenting on the survey on attacks on democracy. The president referred to the minister’s sentence against AI-5 defenders, such as Daniel Silveira.
“In fact, Mr. Alexandre de Moraes has to respect article 142. ‘The guy raises AI-5’. What is AI-5? There is no AI-5. And some think I want to take the hit. Tell that sucker I’m already in power. Important to reflect, folks. Freedom is priceless.”
Attacks on Fachin
A day after the Defense Minister’s attack on Barroso, Bolsonaro took aim at the current president of the TSE, Edson Fachin, rapporteur of the action on the so-called “timeframe” in the STF, in an audience of ruralists at Agrishow, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), on the morning of last Monday (25th).
When talking about the proposal of ruralists about more than doubling the production of wheat in the country, passing 20 million tons of the grain, Bolsonaro cited the action, still under discussion in the Supreme Court, which gives indigenous rights over lands occupied by them only until October 5, 1988, date of promulgation of the Constitution. With the decision, all territories demarcated after that date would be made available to ruralists.
“Roraima did not develop in the past because of the policy of strengthening indigenous reserves,” he said, adding that “there is an action within the Federal Supreme Court that is being carried out by Minister Fachin, who wants a new time frame. , I have two things left: hand over the keys to the Supreme Court or say that I will not comply. I have no alternative”, attacked Bolsonaro, hearing applause from the ruralists present at the event.
Then, he suggested that Supreme Court ministers contest the election for President of the Republic as a so-called “third way” candidate. “What we want from the powers of Brazil is that they look at Brazil and not look at power. If each one of each power wants to run for the presidency, it’s open! There are parties there offering vacancies. Maybe this person is ‘the third via’ and go negotiate on the basis of peace and love our problems”, he joked.
Towards the end, Bolsonaro returned to attacking electronic voting machines, the reason for the Defense Minister’s attacks on Barroso, who declared that there are “repeated movements to throw the Armed Forces into the retail of politics”. By suggesting votes to candidates supported by him, Bolsonaro once again doubted the TSE system.
“You can see, every parliamentarian from the PT, PCdoB, PSol has no doubts about the electronic system. They trust it 100%. It seems impressive. On the other hand, there are people who trust it too, right? , see how he voted for the PEC of the printed vote”, said Bolsonaro, who once again defended Daniel Silveira.
“The decree of grace and pardon is constitutional and will be fulfilled,” he said. “In the past they released bandits and nobody said anything, today I release innocent people.”
Editing: Felipe Mendes
