Lula is the favorite in polls on voting intentions for the next presidential elections in Brazil. | Photo: Prensa Latina

Brasilia, August 18 (RHC)-- The former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is leading the polls for the next presidential elections, said Wednesday that the current far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro, does not like democracy.

Lula participated the day before in the swearing-in of Magistrate Alexandre de Moraes as head of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), which Bolsonaro also attended. In statements to a radio station, the founder of the Workers' Party said that he saw the president very uncomfortable because during the official act he defended democracy and the voting system that Bolsonaro criticizes.

The former Brazilian president considered that the current head of state had that attitude because he heard many times the word democracy and numerous criticisms of authoritarianism and the spread of fake news.

Lula mentioned that Moraes himself vehemently defended the voting system.  He said that the swearing-in ceremony became a very strong defense of democracy and sent the message that Brazilian society longs for "peace, tranquility and elections in which the result is respected."

In Lula's opinion, Bolsonaro spends "all his time disrespecting the Electoral Justice, discrediting the electronic ballot box and trying to demoralize the institutions."

Bolsonaro has repeatedly stated, without any concrete evidence, that the current voting system is conducive to fraud.  At the same time, he has asked the Armed Forces to carry out a parallel vote count, a process that by law corresponds to the electoral authorities.

In the opinion of experts, this attitude of his is explained by the fear of losing the elections, for which the president prepares the ground to question and disrespect the results of the presidential elections.