In Brazil, more than half a million people signed a petition “in defense of democracy”. The petition follows comments from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. In the run-up to the presidential election in early October, he made critical remarks about the electoral system, which has been in use since 1996.
His comments have raised doubts about his stance in the event of a possible election defeat. Members of the law faculty of the University of Sao Paulo launched the petition, which had been signed more than 546,000 times on Saturday afternoon (local time).
“At the moment there is a great danger to normal democracy. Institutions of the republic are at risk and there are indications that election results will not be respected,” write the initiators, without directly mentioning Bolsonaro’s name.
They believe that unfounded and unproven accusations pose a threat to the electoral process and the democratic rule of law. “Threats against other rulers, incitement to violence and an institutional break cannot be tolerated.”
In addition to several former Brazilian chief justices, the petition signatories also include members of the Brazilian banking federation and the influential industrial federation in Sao Paulo. The latter two are particularly noteworthy, as Bolsonaro has received significant support from the corporate sector in the run-up to the 2018 elections.
Brazil’s current president was officially declared the right-wing Liberal Party (PL) candidate for presidential elections in October last week. According to polls, the right-wing populist is far behind left-wing ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is running on behalf of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT).