Journalist and former senator Ana Amélia Lemos and lawyer and professor of Constitutional Law Alessandro Soares discussed, this Tuesday (7), in The Great Debate (Monday to Friday, at 11pm), whether the act in memory of the attacks that took place on January 8, 2023 preserves the memory or fuels political polarization in the country.
The date marks two years since the attacks on the Três Poderes buildings, in Brasília. An event is scheduled to take place, organized by the Executive Branch.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) invited foreign ambassadors to the event in the federal capital, in addition to the commanders of the Armed Forces.
The president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), did not confirm his presence. The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), will be traveling abroad. And the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), minister Luís Roberto Barroso, will not participate.
For the former senator, the absence of the presidencies of the Powers signals that the event is a political act. And Lula’s act increases the division in Brazil.
“You cannot create democracy by vandalizing and destroying national symbols, and the right understands it that way,” said Ana Amélia. “But carrying out an act like the government intends to expands the division of the country, increases the polarization”, he continued.
“Excesses need to be condemned, but institutionally and politically, what is highlighted in this act is not institutional, it is party political”, he concludes.
For Alessandro Soares, the act boosts both the preservation of memory and political polarization, but it ends up being necessary.
“If you have an extreme right that threatens democracy, you end up letting your guard down in defense of democratic values,” said the lawyer. “That is why it is a practically necessary mission for the government to do this work of articulation and memory of what happened in the past”, he continued.
“It is not an easy task, because we know that the tradition in Brazil is a tradition of not reinforcing historical memory”, he added.
