Lula criticizes Bolsonaro for using Brazilian Independence Day as an electoral tool

Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized Wednesday the alleged electoral use that the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, would have made of the festivities for the bicentennial of the country’s independence.

“When I was president, I had the opportunity to participate in two September 7 celebrations, one in 2006 and another in 2010, in the middle of the election period. And at no time did we use the day of the Brazilian people, the greatest day of our country, as an instrument of electoral politics,” said Lula as a reproach to his political adversary, as reported by ‘Folha de S.Paulo’.

The former Brazilian president has urged Bolsonaro to discuss Brazil’s problems and to tell “how he is going to solve the problem of education, health, unemployment and the contraction of the minimum wage”, instead of “talking about political campaign and trying to attack me.”

During the day on Wednesday, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Bolsonaro has delivered a speech to his supporters with a strong electoral tone, seeking to attack Lula , denying suspicions of corruption in his government and repeating attacks on the Supreme Court (STF).

Hours earlier, and after attending a military parade in the capital, Brasilia, Bolsonaro, has also addressed dozens of supporters gathered around the Esplanade of the Ministries, to whom he has not only asked for their vote, but has invited them to change the minds of those who have in mind to bet on another candidate.

“The will of the people will be present on October 2. Let’s all vote, let’s convince those who think differently from us, let’s convince them of what is best for our Brazil,” said Bolsonaro, according to the Brazilian newspaper ‘O Globo’.

At this point, the president has insisted that “evil” ruled the country for 14 years, in clear allusion to the mandates of former presidents Dilma Rousseff (2011-2017) and Lula da Silva (2004-2011), who is now emerging as his main rival in the elections.