Brazilian President Bolsonaro held an unusual display of armed forces in the capital on Tuesday, according to a number of foreign media reports. Opponents of the practice said the incident wanted to show that the military was on his side and was designed to intimidate Congress and the Supreme Court and influence a key vote in the House of Representatives.
On that day, a group of armored military vehicles drove along a main road in the center of Brasilia, nearby several government buildings in the country. The parade, organized by the Navy, has reportedly been held annually since 1988 in the town of Formosa, outside Brasilia, but Tuesday was the first time it was held in the capital's downtown area.
Bolsonaro, 66, a former army captain who often praised Brazil's military dictatorship of 1964-1985, watched the parade with commanders of the three services at the gates of the Palazzo Plannarto. Soldiers reportedly arrested a group of protesters trying to stop the convoy from advancing, while a small group of Bolsonaro supporters also attended the meeting, some holding signs calling for the military to intervene to "save Brazil."
Brazil's opposition said the military march was aimed at intimidating congressional House of Representatives as it would vote Tuesday on a Bolsonaro-backed proposal for constitutional reform that would require some electronic ballot boxes to print paper records. Bolsonaro, who is expected to seek re-election next year, claims the ballot boxes are prone to fraud and he wants Congress to approve a combination of electronic voting and paper voting systems.
On the same day, the House of Representatives of Brazil's Congress rejected the plan to change the voting system, with 229 votes in favor, 218 votes against, 1 abstention, and dozens of other members absent, a vote that was 79 votes away from the three-fifths majority required to approve the constitutional amendment.
Nine left- and center-left parties, including former President Lula's Brazilian Workers' Party, said in a statement tuesday that "it is unacceptable that the armed forces are allowed to present their image in this way, and they are used to imply the use of force in support of the anti-democratic, coup proposals advocated by the president." Lula, 75, who left office with a skyrocketing approval rating from 2003 to 2010, is poised to make a comeback in the 2022 election after the Supreme Court invalidated his corruption conviction and reinstated his political rights.
Bolsonaro's main conservative rival, Joao Doria, the center-right governor of São Paulo state, said Brasilia's "unprecedented and unnecessary chariot parade" was "a clear threat to democracy" and "once again approached authoritarianism, while Brazil wants democracy, respect for the Constitution and freedoms." ”
Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist at rio de Janeiro State University, told AFP: "The president used this tank march to try to intimidate Congress and the Supreme Court, and he wanted to show that the army was on his side." ”
Amid growing criticism, the Navy said in a statement that the military march was planned ahead of Tuesday's House vote and that there was no link between the two, and that the president's media office did not respond to a request for comment on the march.
Reuters pointed out that Bolsonaro had threatened not to accept the results of next year's presidential election, and polls showed him losing to former President Lula, although neither of them had officially announced their candidacy.
(Editor: YZS)