(Bloomberg Opinion) -- With coronavirus cases surging and Brazil’s economy on the edge of a depression, President Jair Bolsonaro faces another crisis: allegations that he interfered with criminal investigations of his allies, including his sons. The charges have eroded Bolsonaro’s self-styled image as a corruption fighter. If proved, they could lead to his impeachment.
The prospect of a constitutional showdown is worrisome, and not just for Brazilians. Having removed two of its four previous elected presidents, South America’s biggest country is in danger of spiraling into a cycle of dysfunction that could threaten regional stability. Yet the charges against Bolsonaro, alongside his flirtations with authoritarianism and refusal to acknowledge the scale of Brazil’s public-health emergency, raise questions about his fitness to lead.
For the sake of Brazilian democracy, legislators and the courts must insist that the investigation of the president be allowed to continue, and that Bolsonaro be held accountable for his conduct.
The matter involves Bolsonaro’s sons, Flavio, Carlos and Eduardo, who are under scrutiny as police investigate a variety of misdeeds, including alleged money laundering, embezzlement and spreading disinformation against political opponents. On April 24, Bolsonaro’s popular justice minister, Sergio Moro, resigned and accused Bolsonaro of firing the head of the federal police in order to install a more quiescent replacement — and then forging Moro’s signature on the order. Text messages and a videotaped cabinet meeting purport to show Bolsonaro’s pushing to remove investigators looking into possible corruption by his allies.
The Supreme Federal Court has approved a new probe into whether the president abused his power. Bolsonaro professes his innocence. Should investigators find evidence of wrongdoing, the Prosecutor General could send the case to the National Congress, which would then have to decide whether to put him on trial.
About this much, Bolsonaro’s critics and supporters can agree: At the moment, a divisive impeachment trial is the last thing the country needs. The rate of Covid-19 infections is accelerating, with as many as 90,000 deaths projected by August. Despite Bolsonaro’s push to reopen the economy, state governors and leaders of the country’s biggest cities have followed the guidance of public-health experts and ordered residents to remain quarantined. One fear is that an increasingly cornered Bolsonaro could rally his followers to mount street protests to keep him in power, which would risk spreading the virus even further.
For those reasons, government investigators should proceed cautiously, but they must also be shielded from coercion. Members of Congress, as well as the military brass Bolsonaro reveres, should make clear their support for prosecutorial independence. When federal police or prosecutors turn up relevant pieces of evidence, such as the video of the cabinet meeting, they should be made public.
Ultimately, the best repudiation of Bolsonaro’s conduct should come at the ballot box. Brazil’s next general election is in 2022. Until then, it is imperative the country’s other institutions remind the president that he isn’t above the law.
Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.
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