At a meeting with his ministers on Tuesday (21) morning, President Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) asked them not to attend the pro-government protests that will take place throughout Brazil on Sunday, May 26. Bolsonaro will not participate in the manifestations, whose primary goal is to show support for his government.
According to general Otávio Rêgo Barros, the president’s spokesperson, the president gave a general order to the ministers during the meeting. “Because it is a spontaneous and open demonstration, [the president] does not want to associate it with the government,” the spokesperson said to Folha when questioned about the reasons for the order.
At the meeting, the president also requested that his ministers to refrain from making any appeals on social media and that they distance themselves entirely from the theme, which, according to him does not and should not have any connection to the government.
The president’s ideological nucleus, made up of followers of the writer Olavo de Carvalho, defended the president’s presence at the demonstrations. For them, his participation would be an important gesture for his supporters.
The moderate group, composed of military members, considered the idea of Bolsonaro going to the demonstrations an error. For them, the president would suffer regardless of the public’s support.
One of the principal motives of the demonstrations was to pressure Congress to pass Bolsonaro’s provisional measures next week. However, the push to urge Congress to vote in favor of reducing the number of ministers from 29 to 22 also lost support on Tuesday.
Members of the PSL party are even minimizing the importance of Sunday’s demonstrations.
The groups organizing the demonstrations are also changing their discourse to exclude radical dialogue. Their goal is to increase support of the government, so ideas like closing Congress and the Supreme Court will be secondary.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon