July 23, 2021

08:07

Priscilla Peixoto e Marcela Leiros – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The veiled threat of the Minister of the Armed Forces, Braga Netto, to the holding of elections in 2022 has resonated among jurists, politicians and federal institutions in the Amazon. A report by Estadão newspaper this Thursday, 22, exposed the general, who stated “to whom it may concern, say that if you don’t have an auditable election, you won’t have an election”. Experts consulted by CENARIUM defend that Braga Netto should answer for a crime of responsibility.

According to Maria Benigno, a specialist in Electoral Law, Braga Netto’s positioning is a threat and should be given due attention. “What I can say is that the ‘threat’ cannot be considered as mere bravado and deserves repression according to the legislation, because it is threatening democracy itself, the basis of our Republic. If the threat violates the CF (Federal Constitution), the minister and whoever else does it, such as the President himself, is subject to the legal consequences, for example answering for a crime of responsibility,” she said.

Braga Netto’s threat was based on accusations by President Jair Bolsonaro (No party) that electronic voting facilitates fraud. On Monday, 19, the head of the executive said he would give up the candidacy for reelection in 2022 if Congress does not approve the auditable printed vote system in electronic voting machines. The president also said he has proof that there was fraud in the 2014 elections – when former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) and then-senator Aécio Neves (PSDB) contested the post – and 2018 – when he won the dispute.

The responsibility in the face of a threat to democracy has also mobilized federal police authorities. In a social network, the former superintendent of the Federal Police (PF), delegate Alexandre Saraiva, positioned himself before the recent events. Saraiva recalled that actions like Braga Netto’s can be considered disorder and, therefore, punishable.

Defense of democracy

The alleged statement of the Minister of Defense also resonated in the Legislative. The vice president of the House, Marcelo Ramos (PSL-AM), replied through a social network, affirming that “in a democracy are not the military who say if you have and how you have elections, who does is the CF [Federal Constitution]”. Ramos, who was the base of the government, declared himself opposed to Bolsonaro last week after the president blamed him for the approval of resources of the Budget Guidelines Law for the Electoral Fund in the amount of $ 5.7 billion.

CENARIUM contacted the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) about the position of the institution regarding the threat of Braga Netto. The body reported that “does not comment on issues that may be the subject of future representation. In a note, the MPF also stressed that “answers arising from facts and not from speculation will be given in the proper forum and at the appropriate time.

“There will be no election”

Estadão newspaper published on Thursday that the president of the House of Representatives, Arthur Lira (Progressives-AL), would have received a message from the Minister of Defense, Walter Braga Netto, “to communicate, to whom it may concern, that there will be no elections in 2022, if there is no printed and auditable vote”. According to the report, the minister was accompanied by military chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The message was reportedly received on July 8. On the same day, President Jair Bolsonaro publicly repeated Braga Netto’s threat. “Either we have clean elections in Brazil or we don’t have elections,” he told supporters that day at the entrance of the Alvorada Palace.

In a live broadcast on social networks on May 6, the president already said, without providing evidence, that the current electronic voting system allows fraud. “You will have printed ballots in 2022 and that’s it. I’m not even going to say anything more. (…) If there are no printed ballots, it is a sign that the election will not take place. I think the message has been given,” said Bolsonaro. What was not known at that time was that the president could count on the support of the military for his authoritarian moves.

According to Estadão, “Lira considered the message given by Braga Netto as a coup threat and contacted Bolsonaro. The two had a long conversation at the Alvorada Palace. Also according to the report, the president of the House told the head of the Executive not to count on him for any act of institutional rupture.

Misinformation

Braga Netto denied having made any kind of threat towards the holding of the 2022 elections and the auditable printed vote. The clarification was made shortly after an event at the Ministry of Defense on Thursday morning.

“Today a report was published that attributes messages to me that attempt to create a narrative about threats made by interlocutors to the president of another power. The Minister of Defense does not communicate with the presidents of the branches of government through interlocutors. This is more misinformation to generate instability among the powers of the Republic at a moment that requires national unity,” Netto declared.

At the time, the Minister of Defense, claimed that the debate about the electronic vote-auditable through printed voucher is legitimate and that it would be under consideration by the Brazilian parliament. “The discussion about the electronic vote-auditable by means of a printed voucher is legitimate, defended by the federal government, and is being analyzed by the Brazilian parliament, which is responsible for deciding on the issue,” said the minister.

The president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), also said that the information is “a lie”.