‘You have to respect the result of the ballot box’, says general – 01/20/2023 – Power

General Tomás Miguel Miné Ribeiro Paiva, military commander of the Southeast, said, in a speech on Wednesday (18) during a ceremony at the QGI (Integrated Headquarters), in São Paulo, that the results of the polls must be respected, regardless of of the President in office.

The event was held in honor of the soldiers killed on January 12, 2010 during an earthquake in Haiti and who were part of the 11th contingent of MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti).

Without mentioning the name of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the commander stated that “it doesn’t matter who is in charge, we will carry out the mission in the same way”. He also said that even if there were “turbulence, earthquakes, tsunamis”, they would remain cohesive, respectful and guarantee democracy.

Tomás Miguel Miné Ribeiro Paiva stated that “democracy presupposes freedom, individual guarantees” and alternation of power, with the institution and its members having to respect the result of the ballot box “even if we don’t like it”.

“That’s what being in the military is. It’s being professional. It’s respecting hierarchy and discipline. It’s being cohesive. It’s integrity. It’s having spirit of body. It’s defending the homeland. It’s being a State institution. Apolitical, non-partisan,” he said .

In another excerpt, he said: “When we vote, we have to respect the result of the ballot box. It doesn’t matter. You have to respect it. That’s what you do. This is the conviction that we have to have. Even if we don’t like . We don’t always like it. It’s not always what we wanted. It doesn’t matter. That’s the role of someone who is a State institution. An institution that respects the values ​​of the homeland, as of the State”.

The headquarters of the Southeastern Military Command was one of the camping sites promoted by coup demonstrators after the second round of the presidential election, in October.

On the day of the inauguration of Lula and Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), Bolsonaristas who remained at the site appealed for the campers not to leave. “QG, HQ, HQ. Nobody leaves here”, they shouted, who also asked for military intervention. On that date, the main target of the attacks was the new president, demonstrators even chanted into a megaphone: “Lula, thief, your place is in the coffin.”

The area in front of the military unit, close to Ibirapuera Park, was only vacated on the 9th, following an order by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes.

The Southeast Military Command, which covers only the state of São Paulo, is one of eight that make up the Brazilian Army and is made up of 132 military organizations.