Lula’s minister rebuffs Bolsonaro over printed vote – 06/22/2023 – Power

The president of the PDT, Carlos Lupi, who is Minister of Social Security in the Lula (PT) government, countered former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who, in order to harass the party, adopted the strategy of recalling the position of the leader in the debate on printed votes. and electronic voting machines.

The PDT is the author of the action that could make the former president ineligible and begins to be judged by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) this Thursday (22). The process is based on the meeting of the then president with ambassadors in which he made accusations against the Brazilian electoral model without presenting evidence.

“The system has been perfected and is proven to be safe. This gentleman’s election in 2018 proved that”, said Lupi to Sheetwhen contesting the ex-president’s argument.

The minister differentiates between the position he expressed in 2021, favorable to the implementation of a kind of receipt in electronic voting machines, and Bolsonaro’s criticism of the Brazilian electoral system, wrapped in a series of lies and distortions now under analysis by the electoral court.

Historically, the PDT has defended instruments that allow the recount of votes, in line with what the party’s main leader, Leonel Brizola (1922-2004) preached. At the time of the discussion initiated by Bolsonaro, Lupi stated that the stance could not be confused with that of the then president.

The PDT guided its group of 25 federal deputies to vote against the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that tried to modify the system. On the occasion, the leader stated that Bolsonaristas wanted to “return to the stone age”, with voting and counting entirely on paper.

Questioned this Wednesday (21), the minister refuted the apparent contradiction that has been pointed out by Bolsonaro.

“We are always in favor of auditing the polls. We never distrust or attack STF ministers,” he said, referring to the former president’s fights with the Supreme Court.

“Over time, the system has proved to be efficient and reliable. Like every human being, we are capable of evolving, [já] others remain trapped in ignorance and aggression against science and technology. That is why we entered this process and we are confident in the decision of the TSE”, he added.

Lupi always fought the thesis that the PDT —which ran for President with Ciro Gomes in 2022— was embarking on the Bolsonarist strategy to delegitimize the system. He used to emphasize the need to have instruments to carry out an audit, if necessary.

“Without the impression of the vote, there is no possibility of a recount. Without a recount, fraud reigns”, said the pedetista in a May 2021 video that was retrieved by Bolsonaro supporters on the eve of the trial at the TSE.

In the recording, still available on Lupi’s profile, he defended the existence of means to check votes in case of distrust. “We, from the PDT, through our leader Leonel Brizola, were the ones who first said that.”

Among Bolsonarists, the message began to spread that the party had already questioned the polls and, therefore, is being inconsistent.

This Wednesday, during an interview with CNN Brasil in which he justified the meeting with the ambassadors and defended his innocence, Bolsonaro emphasized the PDT’s position on printed votes.

“Who filed a lawsuit against me? Who was it? It was Mr. Carlos Lupi’s PDT. He always defended the printed vote and he clearly said that without the printed vote we could have fraud in Brazil. He said it. And it’s one thing curious that he filed a lawsuit against me,” he said.

“The issue of the PDT is old, in the Proconsult case, in Rio de Janeiro, at the time of Mr. Leonel de Moura Brizola, who suspected that something was being discussed against him and managed to avoid fraud.”

On the same day, in the morning, Bolsonaro also spoke about Lupi and made room for the pro-audit position to be recalled. After talking to journalists on leaving the Senate, the former president gave the floor to federal deputy Filipe Barros (PL-PR), who recalled the position of the opposing party in 2021.

“Both I and Congresswoman Bia [Kicis, do PL-DF]author of the printed vote PEC at the time, we were together with the president of the PDT, Mr. Carlos Lupi, a party we respect, which was even the first party in the history of Brazil to defend the printed vote as a result of the attempted fraud in the Proconsult case, in Brizola”, said Barros.

The parliamentarian recalled, during the press conference, Lupi’s post alluding to the risk of fraud if there was no possibility of a recount. “And that same party now enters [com ação] against President Bolsonaro,” he commented.

Deputy Júlia Zanatta (PL-SC), who was also part of the entourage, mocked the situation on her social networks, saying that the president of the PDT made comments about the electoral process “that would be considered undemocratic by the press and by the TSE today”.