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Polish president voices support for Brazil’s Lula after riots by Bolsonaro supporters

09.01.2023 09:00
President Andrzej Duda has expressed Poland’s support for the Brazilian head of state, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after supporters of Lula’s predecessor stormed Brazil’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday.
Supporters of Brazils former president, Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress in the countrys capital on Sunday, January 8, 2023.
Supporters of Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress in the country's capital on Sunday, January 8, 2023.PAP/EPA/Andre Borges

Duda voiced his support in a tweet in the early hours of Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

The Polish president wrote in English: "Democracy is not perfect. Sometimes only 50%+1 voters are satisfied. But nothing better has been invented to ensure the well-being of people."

He added: "Democratic institutions (elections) are sacred. President Lula da Silva won and has the support of the democratic world, including Poland!"

Duda's post came after thousands of supporters of Brazil’s conservative former president. Jair Bolsonaro, invaded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Around 6:30 p.m. local time, three hours after initial reports of the attack, Brazil’s security forces managed to retake the three buildings, according to Brazilian media.

Police said 300 people had been arrested over the attacks, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.

'Assault on democracy': Biden

US President Joe Biden condemned Sunday’s attack on the main political buildings in Brazil’s capital Brasilia, calling it “an assault on democracy,” the Reuters news agency reported.

Biden said in a tweet: “I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”

He added: “I look forward to continuing to work with President Lula da Silva.”

Biden’s denouncement of the riots and declaration of support for the current president of Brazil was echoed by top European Union officials, including European Council President Charles Michel, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the IAR news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro himself criticised Sunday’s attack as “undemocratic,” news agencies reported.

He wrote on Twitter, as quoted by Poland's PAP news agency: “Peaceful demonstrations, within the law, form part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings like those that happened today, as well as those practised by the left in 2013 and 2017, are exceptions to the rule."

Bolsonaro rejected what he called Lula’s “unfounded accusations” that he had contributed to Sunday’s invasion of Brazil’s key political buildings. 

“Throughout my tenure of office, I had acted in line with the constitution, respecting and standing up for rights, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom,” he wrote, as cited by the PAP news agency.

Bolsonaro flew to Florida 48 hours before the end of his term and was absent from Lula's inauguration, the Reuters news agency reported.

After Brazil's runoff election on October 30, Bolsonaro propagated the false claim that the country's electronic voting system was prone to fraud, sparking a violent movement of election deniers, according to Reuters.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, The Guardian