Flamethrowers launched at the Planalto Palace

After Gustavo Bebianno's flamethrower attacks on the Presidential Palace, the game moved from the "bungling president" phase to "what to do with Jair Bolsonaro".

The word "impeachment" has once again echoed within the walls of the offices in the Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Powers Square) in Brasília.

The episode involving the audio recordings of the dialogue between Minister Gustavo Bebianno and the president further exposed, in rich detail, the much-discussed imbalance, weaknesses, and absolute unpreparedness of Jair Bolsonaro to exercise the Presidency of the Republic. There is no longer any doubt.

This is already acknowledged by major media groups in forceful editorials.

Furthermore, the president's family is being investigated by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police. Even his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is being investigated due to the movement of large sums of mysterious money. They are all involved in a link with organized crime militias. A complete disgrace.

Publicly humiliated, Bebianno retaliated by presenting irrefutable evidence that the president lied and is a person of bad character. This is a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of Bolsonaro's election and government, which scandalized the country.

Bebianno drew a line in the sand for the confrontation. The signs are that the escalation of revelations will happen as the investigations advance under the responsibility and protection of Sérgio Moro, Minister of Justice and commander of the Federal Police.

It remains to be seen whether, in Moro's hands, the investigations will be handled with the necessary rigor and impartiality, as required by law, or whether the Ministry of Justice and the Federal Police will be transformed into "Privileged Ovens" in order to prepare convenient cover-ups for the banquets at the Presidential Palace.

Bolsonaro's visit to Congress to personally deliver the pension reform bill appears to be yet another ill-timed decision, at an inconvenient moment, which will certainly cause further damage.

The ostentatious delivery of such an unpopular measure, which deprives the population of rights, only fuels the flames of the fire even further.

This is done when the ruler is politically on a high, in a honeymoon period with the population. That's not the case here.

The scandal of the PSL's "dummy" candidacies and the "flamethrower" videos are crackling in the rubble of the government's support base in the National Congress, causing damage that will be difficult to repair. A base that never even consolidated.

The allegations have highly explosive potential. Investigations, if conducted with due rigor and impartiality, could reveal connections between the slush funds used for the PSL's "dummy candidates" and the slush funds that paid the companies that promoted fake news during the elections.

In other words, the future of the Jair Bolsonaro – Hamilton Mourão ticket rests with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). The case regarding fake news is before the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), in the hands of Minister Jorge Mussi, known as a tough minister for not making concessions.

Recent events involving the government could well encourage the court to make a decision commensurate with the seriousness of the allegations.

The possibility of Jair Bolsonaro's impeachment looms over the Planalto Palace like a cloud laden with deadly lightning. The vice president, General Hamilton Mourão, rubs his hands together, awaiting the opportunity to take the captain's place.

It will depend on the closure of the crisis factory, on how far the misgovernment goes, the decline of the economy, and the levels of unemployment.

Another possibility would be for the incumbent to accept the role of "decorative president," with an office decorated with trappings of power, but only with the task of rubber-stamping and signing government acts.

Ideally, new elections should be held. This would give the population, through a broad national debate, the opportunity to undo the electoral fraud and restore democracy, but Congress and the courts are too small for such grand decisions.