Lula bets that Congress will not reverse the bill against betting in Brazil.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Thursday (October 1st) that the National Congress should not reverse the provisional measure that banned betting in Brazil. The statement was made during an interview on the Flow Podcast.

According to reporting by Folha de S.Paulo, Lula issued the provisional measure on Friday (September 25), nine days before the first round of the presidential election. Because it is a provisional measure, the ban is valid for 120 days and needs to be approved by Congress to become permanent law.

"I doubt Congress has the courage to end it. Even some who are partners with the little tiger," the president said. "That's a good fight."

Lula stated that he decided on the ban after speaking with people who had developed gambling addictions and become indebted to the platforms. The president admitted that he had not grasped the extent of the problem before these conversations.

“I had no idea of ​​the seriousness of the problem. I suspected it, but I didn't know. And because we have elections, I finally ended it, because if I didn't end it and I didn't win the elections, it would never end,” he declared in the interview.

The president acknowledged, however, that the provisional measure does not represent a definitive solution. "Every time you regulate, another illegal activity appears," Lula said.

Lula stated that he knew he would face criticism from influencers linked to the sector and denied having adopted the measure to gain votes.

"There is no proof that this [ending the betting] has won me votes so far. The only issue is this: I made the decision not to allow poor people to be extorted, selling the money meant for their children's beans, their children's milk, their children's bread, to gamble," he stated.

The president also acknowledged that the proximity of the election weighed on the decision to implement the measure at that time. "And it's precisely because we have an election that I ended it. Because if I hadn't ended it and hadn't won the elections, I would never have ended it," he declared.