Voting for Flávio Bolsonaro is Brazil's salvation. But at what cost?

Voting for Flávio Nantes Bolsonaro could be Brazil’s salvation from the disease that is the left, but at what cost?

This could be yet another election in which many votes will not be cast because we believe in a candidate’s political project, but because we consider the opponent to be the worse alternative.

Flávio and Sicário

Flávio Bolsonaro seems to be relying more on the strength of anti-PT sentiment and Bolsonarismo than on presenting a political project capable of convincing voters beyond his own base. This is why he proposes solutions that simply do not make sense, such as guaranteeing free internet access to tens of millions of women and even seeking to provide cell phones only to women. What does this actually solve when it comes to the major concerns of our people?

Besides being a populist proposal, it is sexist, as it benefits only one segment of society.

Another election-driven talking point repeated by most presidential candidates is the fallacy of banning presidential reelection. One of his proposals would be to prevent a president from being reelected. In Brazil, many public policies depend excessively on the political continuity of whoever occupies the Executive Branch, which means that changes in government frequently lead to changes or interruptions in programs. In other words, this is yet another thing that does not work in Brazil.

Our government has never truly been a government of the State, but rather a government project. When a president leaves office, his projects are abandoned by his successor. A single presidential term would be a step backward unless we started viewing these projects as projects of the State rather than of whoever happens to be in power.

His campaign also proposes three other projects aimed at his “Bolsonarista” audience, but they are so impossible to implement that it would be pointless to even mention them here.

Given this collection of proposals, my impression is that the candidacy seems, above all, to be focused on preserving a political power project rather than building a State project.

If it isn’t Flávio, then who is?

Unfortunately, no one has an answer to that question.

The problem is that Bolsonaro could have chosen a better candidate. Flávio is not as dirty as the others, but he is by no means the cleanest politician either. I am not saying that this makes him comparable to the current president, who has accumulated 100 legal cases against him, but I am saying that we had other options, such as Tarcísio de Freitas, who would not embarrass anyone when they pressed the buttons at the voting machines.

We also have the unfortunate reality that thousands of people vote for Lula, and it is certain that Flávio will not be able to win in the first round. The other candidates combined do not have enough votes to even be remembered.

So what should we expect from the second round?

Lula has the government machinery at his disposal, as well as almost the entire Northeast as his political stronghold. The odds become slimmer with every passing moment, and the unfortunate prospect of having another left-wing government in Brazil is becoming increasingly clear.

Bolsonaro should have chosen a better candidate!