‘Death Committee’ To Start Probe On Brazil President Over Handling Of COVID-19 Situation

Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro will be in the hot seat as the parliamentary inquiry starts on how he managed the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. Over 400,000 locals have died from the coronavirus and the Brazilian leader is expected to face the “death committee” to answer for things such as ineffective treatment as well as the removal of three health ministers during the pandemic.

The probe will be conducted by 11 of Brazil’s 81 senators, something that is expected to torpedo his chances of re-election. The panel dubbed as “CPI da Morte” will include some of Jolosonaro’s fiercest rivals. Brazil has the third-worst number of infections behind the United States and India. They also have the highest death toll which stands at 392,204 fatalities.

Bolsonaro is under scrutiny with the healthcare collapse in Brazil. Hospitals have run short of oxygen while there are patients who have died of asphyxiation. Aside from that, questions expected to be raised were the failure to impose proper protocols such as lockdowns and the push for social distancing.

“Eighty-six per cent of Brazilians know someone or have a relative who has died – we’ve never seen anything like this in Brazilian history,” the Amazonian senator Omar Aziz told senators after being elected the inquiry’s president.

Aziz made it clear that the probe is not about revenge but justice as they dig deep to determine who is to answer the poor handling of the COVID-19 issue. But this early, most are pinning the blame on the Brazilian president.

“He’s the number one target,” Maria Cristina Fernandes, a political columnist for the newspaper Valor Econômico stated. “The CPI’s work is going to be aimed at directly incriminating the president. I’ve no doubt about it.”

Aside from the poor implementation of COVID-19 protocols, also to be raised was the failure to acquire the proper number of vaccines to protect its 212 million citizens. This may have factored heavily in Bolsonaro’s failed attempt to achieve herd immunity, resulting in the heavy loss of lives.