Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed responsibility for the serious health crisis linked to covid-19, again criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision to empower local governments to deal with the pandemic and the economic impact.
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For the right-wing leader, the country’s highest court “has committed a crime” by endorsing the health measures imposed by local authorities to contain covid -19.
Bolsonaro reacted to a video broadcast the day before on the official channels of the Supreme Court in which the highest court denied having withdrawn powers from the head of state in the fight against the coronavirus crisis, which made about 555,000 dead.
“The Supreme Court committed a crime by saying that mayors and governors, without distinction, could simply override the rights provided for in the Constitution,” the president said in front of a group of supporters.
Bolsonaro has not ceased to criticize the Supreme Court for having given “all powers” to regional and municipal administrations in the fight against the pandemic, “preventing” his central government from acting.
The Supreme Court reiterated that it had in fact ruled that the three spheres of power (federal, regional and municipal) must work together to put in place measures to “protect the population” from the coronavirus.
Opposing security measures
The President called the Supreme Court’s video “fake news”, assuring that the high court was preventing it from changing some of the restrictions adopted in many parts of the country.
Bolsonaro is a fervent opponent of containment measures which have deeply impacted economic growth and mortgaged the country’s productive capacities.
Through the state bar, the President even appealed unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court against some of these restrictions, such as the nighttime curfew imposed temporarily in some cities across the country.
Bolsonaro, who intends to run for a new term next year, has also pinned the judges of the Court who oppose the return to the printed vote and the elimination of electronic voting, which is, according to him, conducive to “fraud” electoral.
At the lowest level of popularity according to opinion polls, he even threatened not to recognize a possible defeat in the next presidential elections, which would be won by former President Lula Da Silva (left), according to polls from several institutes.
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