Opposition MP Wants to Remove Brazilian President Bolsonaro Over Handling of Coronavirus Crisis

The backlash comes after the president called COVID-19 a "minor flu" and visited public places, shaking hands with people and encouraging them to keep living normally, despite the pandemic.

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Marco Aurélio Mello forwarded a request for the removal of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the Attorney General's Office (Prosecutor General of the Republic, or PGR) on Monday. The request, filed by opposition federal deputy Reginaldo Lopes, accuses the head of state of neglecting the coronavirus threat to the country and creating extreme danger for Brazilians.

If the PGR accepts the charges, the case will proceed to the Chamber of Deputies, who will then have to vote on the issue.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

© REUTERS / Adriano Machado

Bolsonaro previously accused the media of creating panic over the coronavirus and overreacting. In response, several members of the National Congress urged him to resign.

At the same time, a federal judge on Saturday banned the government from campaigning against isolation measures, and tweets from the Brazilian president were removed by the social network on the grounds of violating the social network's rules related to public health information.