With the elections approaching and almost a year after they launched a manifesto in defense of democracy, businessmen have been articulating again to reaffirm their confidence in the electoral system, amid the escalation of attacks carried out by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
In second place in the polls – behind former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) – Bolsonaro has doubled down on his attacks to delegitimize the October election.
Last week, he even took part in an event with foreign diplomats in which he repeated unsubstantiated criticisms of the electoral system.
The episode, which was later criticized even by the president’s allies, was interpreted by businessmen and jurists as one of the most serious chapters in Bolsonaro’s anti-democratic escalation.
On Friday (22), Natura’s president, Fábio Barbosa, recalled, through a post on his LinkedIn profile, that he was involved with the 2021 “Elections will be respected” manifesto, and took the opportunity to reiterate the principles of the movement in defense of democracy.
“About a year ago, I was very involved in the discussions from the beginning and I was one of the first people to sign the ‘Elections will be respected’ manifesto. Now that the elections are approaching, it is even more necessary to reaffirm our commitment to democracy. in Brazil. Defending democracy is the role of every citizen”, he wrote.
THE Sheet he stressed that several initiatives are taking place now, with the aim of defending democracy and the validity of elections. With the rise in tone made by President Bolsonaro and the proximity of the 7th of September, which could mark a reissue of the coup-like act of 2021, Barbosa believes that civil society needs to move.
“The 2021 manifesto started to circulate on social media again, and what I did was endorse the text and remember that I was there. As long as there is this doubt in the air [sobre a legitimidade das eleições]it is necessary to have a counter movement.”
Barbosa is one of 1,500 who signed the new edition of the “Letter to Brazilians”, a manifesto inspired by a movement against the military dictatorship that took place in 1977 at the USP Law School (University of São Paulo).
“Without a doubt, I will also be a signatory, society needs to express itself about what is happening in Brazil, we cannot remain indifferent when the Democratic Rule of Law is threatened”, says José Olympio Pereira, former president of Credit Suisse in Brazil, who also participated in the 2021 manifesto.
“We restored our democracy, we wrote a new Constitution in 1988 and we want a prosperous and fair country. When democracy starts to be threatened, the country is threatened.”
He says that the threat is for Brazil to change category — from an emerging and important country to a ‘banana republic’ — and that the signs are very bad.
“President Bolsonaro has all the legitimacy to run for reelection, he was democratically elected, always by this system, and these are the rules of the game.”
Pereira adds that the security of the system has been questioned and there is no evidence that the electoral system is compromised. “Winning or losing following the rules of the game is part of it, but you don’t want to question the polls.”
Also in his assessment, the initiatives will have broad support from society’s leaders, who have the same indignation with recent events and commitment to the rules of the game.
“Whether or not whoever is elected, we have to help him or her to take the country forward. What worries me is that, with this polarization, we end up not discussing the country project we want”, he says.
In the executive’s assessment, it is still unclear — and not even being debated — what former President Lula intends to do, if he returns to government, or what President Bolsonaro intends to do in a second term. “We should be focusing on the Brazil project that we want, not a discussion that wants to destabilize democracy.”
In the wake of the new edition of the letter, a second text (written by entities, unions and business associations) is also being prepared, is still undergoing adjustments and is expected to be published on Tuesday (26).
According to sources, Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) has been committed to providing support in the business area to the pro-democracy manifestos. Sought, the entity did not confirm or deny its participation in the joint.
In addition to the manifestos, last week, the Panel SA column had pointed out that the entity prepared a list of guidelines to forward to the presidential candidates, citing the need for democratic stability and respect for the rule of law. The position, however, was not a consensus within Fiesp.
The noises in the articulation of business entities for the defense of democracy are not new either. Last year, Caixa Econômica Federal and Banco do Brasil threatened to leave Febraban (the federation that represents banks in the country), if it adhered to a manifesto articulated by the then president of Fiesp, Paulo Skaf.
Events for democracy in São Paulo bring together businessmen and lawyers
Businessmen, jurists and other representatives of civil society have articulated in defense of the electoral system, after the escalation of attacks made by President Bolsonaro.
Events with this objective are scheduled for August 11, at the USP Law School (University of São Paulo), in São Paulo, with the reading of different manifestos.
One of them should bring together businessmen and representatives of society, at 10 am, in the Salão Nobre, when the manifesto of business entities and associations will be read. In the other, at 11:30 am, the new edition of the manifesto “Letter to Brazilians” will be read in the courtyard of the college.
The acts at USP had already been disclosed on the 21st by journalist Reinaldo Azevedo, in his column in Sheet.
The 11th of August refers to the creation of legal courses in Brazil and is also the name of the academic center of the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo. In 1977, representatives of the academic community also read the manifesto in repudiation of the military dictatorship in Largo de São Francisco.
“These are different contexts. When the 1977 letter was launched, we lived in a dictatorship and the document called for the return of democracy. Now, democracy is threatened and it is a letter in defense of democracy against the return of a dictatorship”, says Celso Campilongo, director of the USP Law School.
He reinforces that the moment is worrying and a challenge to Brazilian society as a whole. “When there’s a threat of breaking the rule of law, it’s normal for everyone to be worried, and that creates a collective reaction.”
The director also says that Bolsonaro’s act with the ambassadors adds fuel to the fire, but the crisis begins much earlier and the idea of holding the events is also earlier.
“It’s not a reaction to the president’s last act, we just gain new reasons”, says Campilongo.
Read the full text of one of the manifestos defending the elections:
Letter to Brazilians in defense of the Democratic Rule of Law
In August 1977, amidst the celebrations of the sesquicentennial of the foundation of legal courses in the country, professor Goffredo da Silva Telles Junior, master of all of us, in the free territory of Largo de São Francisco, read the Letter to Brazilians, in which he denounced the illegitimacy of the then military government and the state of exception in which we lived. It also called for the re-establishment of the rule of law and the convening of a National Constituent Assembly.
The seed planted bore fruit. Brazil overcame the military dictatorship. The National Constituent Assembly rescued the legitimacy of our institutions, reestablishing the Democratic State of Law with the prevalence of respect for fundamental rights.
We have the Powers of the Republic, the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary, all independent, autonomous and committed to respecting and ensuring compliance with the greater pact, the Federal Constitution.
Under the guise of the Federal Constitution of 1988, about to complete its 34th anniversary, we went through free and periodic elections, in which the political debate on projects for the country was always democratic, with the final decision being left to popular sovereignty.
Goffredo’s lesson is embodied in our Constitution: “All power emanates from the people, who exercise it through their elected representatives or directly, under the terms of this Constitution.”
Our elections with the electronic counting process have served as an example in the world. We had several alternations of power regarding the results of the polls and the republican transition of government. Electronic voting machines proved to be safe and reliable, as well as the Electoral Justice.
Our democracy has grown and matured, but much remains to be done. We live in a country of profound social inequalities, with shortages in essential public services, such as health, education, housing and public safety. We have a long way to go in developing our economic potential in a sustainable way. The State is inefficient in the face of its numerous challenges. Demands for greater respect and equality of conditions in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation are still
are far from being fully addressed.
In the coming days, in the midst of these challenges, we will have the beginning of the electoral campaign to renew the mandates of state and federal legislatures and executives. At this moment, we should have the apex of democracy with the dispute between the various political projects aimed at convincing the electorate of the best proposal for the country’s direction in the coming years.
Instead of a civic celebration, we are going through a moment of immense danger to democratic normality, risk to the institutions of the Republic and insinuations of contempt for the results of the elections.
Groundless attacks unaccompanied by evidence question the fairness of the electoral process and the democratic rule of law so hard won by Brazilian society. Threats to other powers and sectors of civil society and the incitement to violence and the breakdown of the constitutional order are intolerable.
We have recently witnessed authoritarian rants that have jeopardized secular American democracy. There, the attempts to destabilize democracy and the people’s confidence in the fairness of the elections were not successful, nor will they be successful here.
Our civic conscience is much greater than the opponents of democracy imagine. We know how to put aside minor differences in favor of something much bigger, the defense of the democratic order.
Imbued with the civic spirit that underpinned the 1977 Letter to Brazilians and gathered in the same free territory of the `largo de São Francisco, regardless of the electoral or party preference of each one,
We call on Brazilian women and men to be alert in the defense of democracy and respect for the results of the elections.
In today’s Brazil there is no more room for authoritarian setbacks. Dictatorship and torture belong to the past. The solution to the immense challenges facing Brazilian society necessarily involves respect for the results of the elections.
In civic vigil against attempts at ruptures, we cry out in unison:
Democratic Rule of Law Always!
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