Claims of plot a to stay in power
A Brazilian magazine has released audio of a senator claiming then President Jair Bolsonaro sought help in a plot to annul the October elections and keep himself in power.
Senator Marcos do Val tells the magazine Veja that the idea was discussed when he met Bolsonaro and lawmaker Daniel Silveira on December 9 at the presidential residence, three weeks before leftist Luiz Incio Lula da Silva was set to take office.
Do Val, who was an ally during Bolsonaro’s four-year term, said the far-right leader gave him the “mission” of recording Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who also heads Brazil’s electoral authority, while trying to get the judge to admit he overstepped his powers under the constitution.
“‘I annul the election, Lula isn’t sworn in, I stay in the presidency and arrest Alexandre de Moraes because of his comments,”’ do Val quotes Bolsonaro as saying.
Veja released the audio in response to denials the senator issued following the magazine’s report about the purported plot, which had not cited him as its source. Do Val told reporters after the magazine published its story that the plot had been Silveira’s idea and that the former president hadn’t said a word during the meeting.
Later, de Moraes ordered the Federal Police to take do Val’s sworn testimony within five days. Bolsonaro, who has been keeping a low profile in Florida since December 30, did not comment on the matter on any of his social media channels. He recently applied for a six-month tourist visa to stay in the US.
The alleged meeting adds to the growing list of woes for Bolsonaro, who is already under investigation for his possible role in his supporters’ uprising in the Brazilian capital on January 8. Bolsonaro cast doubt on the nation’s electronic voting system in the lead-up to the election, and then refused to concede defeat. His supporters have accused de Moraes of rigging the election in Lula’s favour, without offering any evidence.
Suspicions of a coup plot increased after police searching the home of Bolsonaro’s former justice minister found a draft decree that would have seized control of the electoral authority and potentially overturned the election.