Allies defend, and Lula considers joining pro-democracy manifestos

Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is considering signing the two pro-democracy manifestos organized by entities and students from the USP Law School. PT’s allies have encouraged its adhesion to the movement, under the argument that the risk of the gesture being interpreted as electoral votes is removed.

In the opinion of collaborators, Lula is sensitive to this assessment and tends to adhere to the movement. In the late afternoon of Thursday (4), during a meeting in São Paulo, he told allies that he was evaluating the possibility.

Lula should attend a debate at Fiesp (Fundação das Industrias do Estado de São Paulo) next Tuesday (9), when, according to allies, he will be able to endorse the document articulated by the entity.

The letter also has the signature of trade union centrals (such as CUT, Força Sindical and UGT), Febraban (which represents the banks), the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and UNE (National Union of Students).

The document expresses an “unshakable commitment to the sovereignty of the Brazilian people expressed by the vote and exercised in accordance with the Constitution”.

Lula is also studying signing the “Letter to Brazilians and Brazilians in Defense of the Democratic Rule of Law”, which gathered more than 700 thousand signatures until this Thursday (4).

The text was organized by former students of the Largo São Francisco Law School, at USP (University of São Paulo), and was later supported by movements such as the Prerogativas group, which brings together jurists and lawyers.

Both letters will be read on August 11 at ceremonies at the Largo São Francisco Faculty of Law.

Since it was published on the institution’s website, on the 26th, the letter was signed by jurists, academics, artists, economists and also politicians.

Pre-candidates for the presidency Simone Tebet (MDB) and Ciro Gomes (PDT) endorsed the manifesto, as did former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) and former governor Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), among others.

According to people close to him, Lula initially resisted signing the manifestos for fear of giving the movement a political-electoral character and being accused of trying to instrumentalize the initiative.

Faced with the wide list of signatories, however, Lula’s allies considered that it would be important to ratify the document to mark a position and to make a counterpoint to Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who has carried out several coup demonstrations and put in check the fairness of electronic voting machines.

The idea is that, when signing the texts, Lula emphasizes that the pro-democracy manifestos are independent.

Lawyer Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, coordinator of the Prerogativas group, said that, if he is to join, Lula will do so “at the right time in order to respect the independence, autonomy and supra-partisanship of the act.”

“Lula is the only candidate who does not need to demonstrate his commitment to democracy, signing letters, manifestos, or adhering to any movement or act”, adds Marco Aurélio.

Bolsonaro canceled his participation in the Fiesp meeting, where he would be invited to sign the entity’s letter.

According to reports, the president sees political connotations in it and should not sign it. Bolsonaro would participate in the “Meeting with Candidates for the Presidency: Priority Guidelines of the Federal Government (2023-2026)”, which has already questioned Simone Tebet (MDB) and will receive Lula, on Tuesday. The president’s trip to the entity at another time is not ruled out.

He also canceled dinner with businessmen, promoted by the sphere group, which would also take place in SP on the 11th.

The documents from both Fiesp and USP law students are seen as a response to Bolsonaro’s authoritarian attacks.

The initiative of former students of the USP Law School refers to the Letter to Brazilians of 1977.

That year, representatives of the academic community also read in Largo de São Francisco a manifesto in repudiation of the military dictatorship, hence the initiative to make a new edition of the letter, explains Celso Campilongo, director of the USP Law School.

“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”, says text. .

The letter, prepared in response to Bolsonaro’s attacks, recalls the overcoming of the military dictatorship (1964-1985), the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution and affirms that democracy has matured.

The text considers, however, that, with this year’s elections, Brazil is going through a moment of immense danger to democratic normality and risk to institutions.

“Unfounded 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 rupture of the constitutional order are intolerable” , says the letter.

The letter articulated by Fiesp highlights the importance of the 200 years of Brazil’s independence.

“Our democracy has shown strength in succession. In less than four decades, it has faced deep crises, both economic, with periods of recession and hyperinflation, and political, overcoming these ills through the strength of our institutions”, says another excerpt from the document.

The text states that respect for the rule of law and democratic stability in the country are essential for Brazil to overcome the challenges and that this is “the greatest meaning of September 7th this year”.

On another front, however, Bolsonaro has already summoned his supporters for a new act on Independence Day and the tendency is for him to repeat the style of last year, when the president attacked Supreme Court decisions and repeated a speech with a coup content.