Brazil: Ahead of re-election campaign, Bolsonaro claims 'only God' can oust him from power

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, Tuesday, took to the streets to showcase their support for right-wing leader and country’s incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro while calling for the removal of Supreme Court justices. The mass demonstrations were fuelled by Bolsonaro himself, who asserted that "either the head of this power gets in line or this power can suffer what we do not want", giving an indirect threat to the Brazilian High Court. Notably, Brazil’s judiciary has struck its stance against the former Army Captain in recent months and initiated multiple probes against him including that for corruption and malfeasance.

As the Latin American country celebrated its Independence Day, Bolsonaro addressed large masses of people at two discrete rallies at the capital city of Brasilia, according to Al Jazeera. The 66-year-old lashed out at the High Court, stating that the country can no longer accept what he characterised as ‘political imprisonments’. It is worth mentioning that Supreme Court  Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of multiple Bolsonaro allies including Congressman Daniel Silveira. 

'Only God will take me out': Bolsonaro

Polls show Bolsonaro’s approval ratings have sunk to record lows owing to his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption charges and staggering economic crisis in the country. The Latin American country is set to hold its Presidential elections in October 2022 and would see the right-wing trailing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Meanwhile, speaking in Sao Paulo on the occasion of Independence Day ahead of re-election campaign, Bolsonaro reckoned that "only God could take him out of power."

“Only God will take me out of Brasilia,” he told a crowd of 114,000 supporters on Sao Paulo’s Paulista Avenue on 7 September afternoon, according to local military police estimates.

Earlier, Bolsonaro claimed that he sees three alternatives for his future- prison, death or victory in the upcoming polls. Throughout his tenure, Bolsonaro has been a controversial figure and had previously created headlines with his stance on corruption, environmental degradation and coronavirus pandemic. It is to mention that Bolsonaro has been accused of corruption and malfeasance. Last month, he was accused of engaging in a plot to skim the salaries of his aides. In June, three Brazilian senators formally accused him of malfeasance before the Supreme Court over allegations he failed to have a top ally investigated for suspicion of massive corruption in the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Image: AP