The presidential candidate of Brazil for the Liberal Party (PL), Flávio Bolsonaro, stated this Tuesday that he plans to take advantage of the new correlation of forces in Congress that emerged after the first round to promote constitutional reforms and "redemocratize the country." His words came at a campaign rally in the city of Goiania, where he received the explicit support of the former governor and defeated presidential candidate Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), ahead of the second round against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, scheduled for next October 25.
The ultraconservative leader, who on Sunday garnered more than 56 million votes (47% of the total), celebrated the advance of the right in the Brazilian legislative chambers and emphasized that he will have "a majority in the Senate to elect the president of the Senate" and "a majority in the Chamber to elect the president of the Chamber." In his view, this dominance in the Legislature will allow for "changing the Constitution" so that "the institutions will respect it again," although he did not specify which articles of the Magna Carta he intends to touch.
Starting in 2027, the new distribution of seats will turn the PL into the main bench of both chambers, with 121 deputies and 28 senators. However, any attempt at constitutional reform will still require the support of other parties to reach the three-fifths majority in two successive votes in each chamber (308 deputies and 49 senators).
In his speech, Flávio Bolsonaro once again highlighted the most forceful proposals of his public security program, committing to create "half a million prison places" and to push forward legal changes to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years, a proposal that is already pending examination in the Chamber of Deputies. Additionally, he reiterated his support for chemical castration for rapists and pedophiles and maintained that minors who commit serious crimes "must be held accountable as adults."
These promises reflect the political convergence between the PL candidate and Ronaldo Caiado, the fifth force in the first round with more than 2.5 million votes. Despite having previously questioned Flávio Bolsonaro and doubting his credibility, Caiado has now decided to align himself with him with the aim of preventing Lula's reelection.
In the realm of agreements, Caiado also reiterated his promise to support a possible amnesty both for those convicted for the assault on the institutions of January 8 and for former president Jair Bolsonaro, father of the candidate and currently under house arrest after being sentenced for attempting to prevent the inauguration of Lula da Silva in an attempted coup.