Brazilian President’s statement during a political rally that "democracy is not only clean stuff" is generating lots of heat in Brazil.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made the comment during a speech while campaigning for reelection, yesterday, September 5, in Caruaru, in Pernambuco, his home state.
Geraldo Alckmin, Lula’s main opponent in the presidential election, criticized the president for the assertion calling it "nonsense." And added: "Whoever thinks like that should not be in politics".
José Carlos Aleluia, from the opposition party PFL, who is the minority leader in the House of Representatives, however, went way further.
According to him, Lula’s affirmation indicates that Brazil is getting into a fraudulent election and he is calling for international observers to guarantee that the October 1st vote is kept honest.
"We are on our way to a fraudulent election," said Aleluia. "The president’s comment is argument enough to take the case to an international court."
The House leader, from Bahia state’s PFL (Party of the Liberal Front) has already sent his party’s Executive committee an order so that they ask international organisms to send observers to oversee the Brazilian general elections.
Aleluia accuses the President of using the government’s machine to get reelected, disrespecting the Justice. As example he cites the Bolsa-Família (Family Allowance) program, which assists with cash millions of families every month.
"The election is not clean. Lula is being supported by fraud, lies and the purchase of votes with prepayment to the poorest among the population," he went on.
In refuting Lula, Alckmin said that the president doesn’t believe in democracy, the society’s foundation. "The government should and can be an honest government, that doesn’t align with corruption," stated the former governor of São Paulo.