President Jair Bolsonaro (C) at a meeting with ambassadors, Brasilia, Brazil, July 18, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @UOLNoticias

Brasilia, July 20 (RHC)-- The Brazilian opposition has filed a new complaint with the Supreme Court against President Jair Bolsonaro, whom it accused of "lying" to a group of ambassadors about the reliability of the electoral system.

The lawsuit refers to a meeting held on Monday by Bolsonaro with ambassadors from 40 countries.  In this meeting, the far-right president insisted on disqualifying the electronic ballot boxes that have been used in the country since 1996.  Similar to previous occasions, he did not present any evidence to support his claims.

"The position of President of the Republic should not be used to subvert and attack the democratic order, create chaos, and destabilize institutions," says the lawsuit, which accuses Bolsonaro of making illicit use of public institutions and resources to carry out early electoral propaganda, abuse power, and violate the rule of law.

During his meeting with the diplomats, Bolsonaro harshly criticized the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and accused its members of "conspiring" to favor Lula da Silva in the October elections, whom all the opinion polls present as the favorite. to reach the presidency.

The former captain's statements sparked strong criticism among politicians, lawmakers, and judges. Opponents of the Bolsonaro regime warned that the insistent campaign to smear the Brazilian electoral system could be part of a strategy to justify a coup, which follows the symbolic script used by the Bolivian right against Evo Morales in 2019.

The tweet reads: "Bolsonaro is desperate!  Apart from the fanatics and idiots who are guided by idolatry and fake news, he does not have the support of the majority of the population.  Yesterday they felt the disgust of the ambassadors.  There will be no coup d'état!  Enough!  Impeachment now!  No threat will stop the power of the people.  There will be elections in 2022 and Bolsonaro will be defeated."

Through an official communication, the president of the Senate Rodrigo Pacheco affirmed that "the Parliament, whose composition was elected by the electoral system currently in force, has the obligation to affirm that the electronic ballot boxes will give the country the faithful result of the popular will."

TSE President Edson Fachin also reacted strongly, stating that his institution "cannot tolerate accusations of fraud or bad faith." He also asked Brazilians to say "enough" to "unacceptable electoral denialism."

Currently, the Supreme Court is already investigating Bolsonaro for the campaign against electronic ballot boxes that began in 2021, as soon as the polls began to point to Lula da Silva as the clear favorite to win the October 2022 elections.