Bolsonaro asks the Senate to put a ‘brake’ on Moraes and calls the STF minister a ‘dictator’

Former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said he hopes “that the Senate will put a stop to Alexandre de Moraes, this dictator, who does more harm to Brazil than Luís Inácio Lula da Silva himself.” He spoke at a rally on Paulista Avenue called on September 7 by Bolsonaro supporters to call for the judge’s impeachment.

Bolsonaro also defended the approval of an amnesty for those arrested for the January 8 coup and suggested that his eight-year ineligibility, determined by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), be reviewed by Congress. “I am sure that these two absurd accusations, without reason, without materiality, will sooner or later be achieved through work within the National Congress,” said the former president.

“It is the Brazilian people who have to choose their future leaders, and not one or another minister who is temporarily heading the TSE,” added Bolsonaro.

In an emotional speech, he also recalled the stabbing he suffered in 2018 and stated again that his first election was the result of a “failure in the electoral system.” Bolsonaro attacked Minister Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of conducting the 2022 elections in a “partial” manner and of “choosing his targets.”

“To prevent me from having a chance to return, they declared me ineligible. One of the reasons was because I met with ambassadors. I did not meet with drug traffickers in Morro do Alemão, as Lula did. These investigations, which led to others, based on these petitions, gave Alexandre de Moraes broad powers, who chose his targets, including my son Eduardo Bolsonaro. This was confirmed in the audios leaked in the operation known as Lava Toga,” Bolsonaro said in his speech.