Brazil opposition presses with “super impeachment demand” against Jair Bolsonaro for his handling of the pandemic

The Brazilian opposition recorded this Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies a “Super impeachment demand” against President Jair Bolsonaro, besieged by suspicion of corruption of its government in the purchase of anti-ovid vaccines.

The document, signed by dozens of left-wing parties, unions and social organizations, but also by some former allies of Bolsonaro, brings together a one hundred impeachment demands already delivered to the camera with more than 20 charges, such as having acted “negligently” in the face of the pandemic which has already claimed more than 500,000 lives in the country.

The president has consistently opposed social isolation measures, encouraged crowds without using masks, questioned the effectiveness of vaccines and promoted drugs with no proven efficacy against the disease.

The management seeks put pressure on the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, to follow through on some of the impeachment demands that are piling up in his drawers.

Observers consider it unlikely that Lira, an ally of Bolsonaro, do you decide to take this step?

And if that happens, they are currently in doubt that the request will be approved, since it will require the support of two-thirds of MPs and Bolsonaro, despite the decline in popularity, it enjoys the support of a heterogeneous coalition of conservative parties.

But The initiative joins a growing social mobilization and the work of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (ICC) installed two months ago by the Senate investigate possible government omissions in the management of the pandemic and which, in recent sessions, have raised suspicions of corruption in the negotiation and purchase of vaccines.

On Monday, three senators filed a complaint with the Supreme Court for an investigation into whether Bolsonaro committed the crime of “procrastination“By not reporting one of these suspicions, of which he would have been aware.”

The opposition led massive protests nationwide on May 29 and June 19 and brought forward the one scheduled to take place on July 23 for next Saturday.

Among the signatories of “great impeachment request“Include the Workers’ Party (PT) of the former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as labor and student unions, legal entities and anti-racist groups.

The “street” factor

“We view this impeachment request with a lot of skepticism. We do not see the accession of a strong or sufficient set of political forces to break Bolsonaro’s armor in the House, ”he told the agency. AFP political scientist Creomar de Souza, from the consulting firm Dharma.

But “We are attentive to the ramifications or the emergence of new complaints”, added.

“An impeachment depends a lot on the street. We are organizing the third march this week. With this complaint for corruption, I think the streets will increase the pressure, ”he told the AFP MP Paulo Teixeira, PT, in reference to the mobilization of opposition sectors.

(By Jordi Miro – AFP)

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