The Progressive Alliance supports all democratic forces in Brazil who oppose antipolitical and antidemocratic ideologies and it hopes that in a process of dialogue a way out of the crises can be found. The opposition in Brazil must again adhere to basic democratic principles. This means to respect election results and to fight for the political change at the ballot box.
The Progressive Alliance is watching the developments in Brazil with growing concern. The severe cases of corruption in the state-owned oil group Petrobras have shaken the faith of the population in the political system and the parties.
The Workers’ Party (PT) and its leadership are being exposed to a defamation campaign by a big part of Brazilian media with the aim to damage the credibility and prestige of the party, the acting president Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor.
It is the task of the judiciary in a democratic community to ensure that investigation into corruption does not turn into political revanchism.
With the impeachment the opposition abuses an important democratic instrument to remove a democratically legitimized president from office. The abuse of the impeachment is a dangerous precedent for the Brazilian democracy. It allows that opinion polls and protest marches have a stronger weight than constitutional principles and democratic elections.
24 April 2016, São Paulo
