Opinion – Jorge Abrahão: Two months that change a country

On November 1, the headlines announced the election of a new President of the Republic, who represented a broad political front in defense of the prevalence of democracy. The numerical result of the election, contrary to what it may seem at first, does not represent the correlation of political forces in the country, considering the abusive use of the government machine and public resources in the months that preceded the elections.

As a result, a challenge is to create a pattern of republican coexistence among those who think differently and respect the Constitution.

The process of democratic advancement that we have experienced in Brazil over the last 130 years is no small feat. The Proclamation of the Republic in Brazil in 1889, sponsored by large rural landowners —and with the involvement of the military— was a way of keeping power in their hands and had almost nothing republican about it, with private interests prevailing over public ones.

At that time, only 1% of the population had the right to vote: rich male people, with income above 200 thousand réis.

Now, in the 2022 elections, 156 million Brazilians, approximately 70% of the population, were eligible to vote. The political exclusion of the beginning of the Republic has been overcome, and the Brazilian voting system is one of the most advanced in the world. An unequivocal achievement of society.

Although we have to celebrate these advances, the electoral process showed weaknesses in Brazilian democracy that cannot be forgotten and must be faced from the beginning of the next term.

The debate on the incompatibilization of presidential candidates must be resumed, since the use of the public machine unbalances the elections in favor of those in power.

No less important was the use of social networks for disinformation and promotion of fake news for segmented audiences, which has put democracies at risk and deserves an urgent look at institutions, since figures like Zuckerberg (Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp ) and Elon Musk (Twitter) have already demonstrated that they value their businesses more than the negative impact they have on society and democracies.

The end of the secret parliamentary amendments, which served to keep the group aligned with the president of the Chamber in power, is another key issue to be faced.

And the criteria for appointing an Attorney General of the Republic to exercise his constitutional role is another issue that cannot be overlooked.

On December 2, one month after the election results, the IBGE announced that poverty has increased in Brazil and more than 62.5 million people earn less than R$486.00 per month (in 2021).

This is the social photograph of a country that has faced enormous setbacks in recent years and shows the measure of the challenges that lie ahead: providing a dignified life for the majority of the Brazilian population.

Brazil has the resources to face this problem and we know where they are. There remains courage to propose policies that reduce inequalities in the country, which should be in the interest of all segments of society.

From an environmental point of view, data show that deforestation has doubled in the last two years, which demonstrates the urgency of actions in Brazilian biomes, especially the Amazon.

It still remains to resume participation spaces to incorporate the perspective of different segments of society, taking advantage of the richness of our diversity.

On January 1st, the new president will be sworn in. In an electoral process in which commitments have been made to a broad political spectrum, compositions will be the norm.

But if there is any certainty, it is that there are commitments to democracy, with the priority given to tackling social and environmental issues and with the resumption of social participation.

Two months before there was doubt about all these questions. Perhaps that is why this period represents something that transcends the definition of thematic policies: the certainty that the country has recovered the possibility of dreaming.