Should Jair Bolsonaro be impeached?

The drive for the impeachment of Jair Bolsonaro slowed in 2021 as his allies won in Congress, and with an election due in 2022 it seems that the call the impeach the President has come too late, and the damage has been done. During the height of the COVID pandemic Mayor Arthur Virgilio Neto of Manaus, a city that has suffered extensively due to the corona virus said that he holds Bolsonaro responsible for the COVID death toll and that the president needs to shut up and resign. A year later and the the heads of the army, navy and air force all quit in protest to the President's pandemic response, something that is only seemingly worsening. Bolsonaro has enjoyed much military support during his presidency, with this removed he will likely feel much more politically, and possibly physically, vulnerable, his resignation now seems more realistic than a lengthy impeachment.

msn.com/en-us/news/world/jair-bolsonaro-should-shut-up-and-resign-over-coronavirus-response-brazilian-mayor-says/ar-BB14yF3N nhregister.com/news/article/Bolsonaro-allies-win-in-Congress-and-slow-15917172.php

During his time as President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has demonstrated an alarming inability to govern, so much so that he has become a danger to Brazilians and the world at large. His conspiracy theories and incapacity to understand climate change have hastened the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and a similar aversion to science is leading to the worst COVID pandemic health crisis in the world. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro’s mismanagement of a Brazil national oil company, Petrobras, caused the companies stocks to tumble and the Brazilian currency to decline against the dollar. In March 2020 a petition to have Bolsonaro impeached by Congress was backed by scientists, artists, and activists and went on to gain over a million signatures. By April 2021 Brazil's Supreme Court announced intentions to investigate Bolsonaro's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as parts of the country is on the verge on healthcare collapse.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/29/bolsonaro-is-endangering-brazil-he-must-be-impeached rt.com/news/521064-brazil-coronavirus-bolsanaro-probe verfassungsblog.de/why-bolsonaro-needs-to-be-impeached aa.com.tr/en/americas/-bolsonaro-must-be-impeached-for-virus-mismanagement-/1784830

There is no consensus amongst the opposition, so if Bolsonaro were to be impeached now it is likely to be a long drawn out procedure that may not go anywhere and take more time away from more pressing matters. There was a major call for his impeachment in March 2020, but there was no political will to carry this through, and the support for his impeachment was limited to a minority, with Bolsonaro’s supporters becoming only more mobilised by the calls for his resignation. Today polls show that Bolsonaro’s impeachment remains just as divisive, with only a slim margin of 2.7% in favour of impeachment (47.7% for, 45% against, and 7.3% not sure). Impeachment at this moment would be too divisive, would probably fail, and would be too costly in terms of political capital.

noticias.uol.com.br/colunas/tales-faria/2020/03/21/para-o-congresso-bolsonaro-quer-que-tentem-impeachment-para-ter-confronto.htm atlaspolitico.com.br/downloads/Atlas_BR_032520_Final.pdf brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2020-03-19/gestao-de-bolsonaro-do-coronavirus-e-reprovada-por-64-e-45-se-dizem-a-favor-de-impeachment.html