Bankers and business leaders say Brazil’s democracy in ‘grave danger’

Roberto Egydio Setubal, CEO of Itau Unibanco attends the ultimate session ‘The World-wide Agenda 2015’ in the Swiss mountain vacation resort of Davos January 24, 2015. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photograph

SAO PAULO, July 26 (Reuters) – Best Brazilian bankers and businessmen issued a letter on Tuesday in protection of Brazil’s electronic voting program that has been attacked by significantly-proper President Jair Bolsonaro, and warned that the country’s democracy was in “grave danger.”

The manifesto, signed by some 3,000 main Brazilian figures, did not mention Bolsonaro by title, but clearly tackled the scenario he has brought about by questioning the voting technique forward of the Oct. 2 election and attacking Supreme Court justices who oversee the elections in Brazil.

Their letter referred to “unfounded attacks” on the voting method, which Bolsonaro statements is vulnerable to fraud, and “insinuations” that the election final results will not be revered.

It was signed by Roberto Setubal, chairman of Itau Unibanco (SUZB3.SA), Walter Schalka, chief executive of pulp and paper multinational Suzano Papel e Celulose SA (SUZB3.SA), Guilherme Leal, co-chair of cosmetic maker Natura & Co (NTCO3.SA), amid other business enterprise leaders.

Former central financial institution president Arminio Fraga and former finance minister Pedro Malan also signed, as did 6 previous justices of Brazil’s Supreme Court, and preferred singer Chico Buarque.

Bolsonaro, who is trailing former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the polls, has often criticized the voting procedure and proposed that the armed forces be included in counting the votes.

He has named for protests on Sept. 7 to back again his allegations, considerably less than a thirty day period before election day, raising fears that he will refuse to take defeat and could consider to result in a coup or stimulate a mob of supporters to take to the streets.

“We should really now be at the peak of democracy, with diverse political projects vying to encourage voters which is the most effective way for the nation to get in the up coming few years,” the manifesto explained.

“Rather, we are going through a second of enormous danger for our democratic establishments and insinuations of contempt for the result of the elections,” the letter reported.

The signatories explained Brazil’s electronic voting system has been an instance for the earth, ensuring the election of alternating events in power in a secure and responsible way.

“In today’s Brazil, there is no extra place for authoritarian setbacks,” the letter said, recalling dictatorship and torture that Brazil suffered in the earlier under armed forces rule.

Bolsonaro’s chief of workers, Ciro Nogueira, responding to the proclamation, said on Twitter bankers ended up upset with the president mainly because he had established the independence of the central bank, and financial institutions had misplaced much more than 30 billion reais ($5.6 billion) in transaction charges owing to a new technique for digital payments.

($1 = 5.3511 reais)

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Alberto Alerigi and Aluisio Alves in Sao Paulo
Composing by Anthony Boadle
Modifying by Matthew Lewis

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