Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has ordered an investigation into the team of the country’s current president and candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro, for alleged irregularities in the electoral campaign for the second round in which he faces former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on October 30.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes has made this decision, after he denied Bolsonaro’s (PL) request to investigate radio stations for allegedly giving preference to his opponent Lula da Silva, as the magistrate alleged lack of evidence, reports Brazilian portal G1.
In denying the request, Moraes has stated that this action on the part of the presidential candidate raises an alleged fraud on the eve of the elections «without credible documentary basis, lacking, therefore, a minimum indication of proof», by not presenting the specific number of stations and insertions that would be the subject of complaint.
The radios, which Bolsonaro’s team had accused of concealing the broadcast of official propaganda, indicated that they had not received the material. Meanwhile, the Court indicated that it is up to the parties themselves to regulate the publication of propaganda.
Bolsonaro, for his part, has lashed out late Wednesday at the gates of the Alvorada Palace to criticize Moraes and announced that he plans to appeal the decision because he has «irrefutable evidence of manipulation» and, therefore, the case «is not closed».
«We will go to the limit, in terms of what the Constitution allows, and we will demonstrate what our audits show, that there is really a disparity,» he has declared.
The Liberal Party leader has accused the TSE of manipulating the result of Sunday’s election in favor of Lula. «We are victims once again, we have proven interference against us: that is election manipulation,» he denounced.
