Far-right chief has not commented on defeat to his rival, Brazilian president-elect Lula da Silva, fuelling considerations.
Hours after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was declared Brazil’s subsequent president, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro has but to handle his electoral defeat, elevating considerations the far-right chief might be planning to contest the outcomes.
Da Silva, higher generally known as Lula, narrowly bested Bolsonaro in Sunday’s second spherical run-off, garnering 50.9 % help in comparison with 49.1 % for the previous military captain.
Whereas Lula struck a conciliatory tone – pledging to “govern for 215 million Brazilians, and never simply for individuals who voted for me” – and world leaders congratulated him on his victory, Bolsonaro has but to remark publicly or on social media.
Bolsonaro has spent months falsely claiming that Brazil’s electoral system was weak to fraud, spurring fears that he deliberate to contest the outcomes ought to he lose to Lula, as most Brazilian polls had predicted.
Reporting from the capital Brasilia, Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo mentioned on Monday that there was “completely silence” on the presidential palace, the place she mentioned Bolsonaro had arrived very early within the morning.
“No one is aware of whether or not he’s going to talk,” Bo reported. “He has not conceded defeat. He has not known as elected President Lula da Silva.”
Previously, Bolsonaro additionally has expressed admiration for Brazil’s former navy regime, which dominated from 1964 to 1985, including to fears across the election marketing campaign.
Nonetheless, Bo mentioned the heads of each chambers of Brazil’s Congress have accepted Lula’s victory, tempering considerations over Bolsonaro’s response.
“The director of the electoral tribunal mentioned that he spoke to the president and [said] that he’s anticipated to simply accept the outcomes,” she mentioned. “However no one is aware of when that’s going to occur. We do hear, nonetheless, that a few of his ministers are advising him to acknowledge this consequence.”
In the meantime, truckers and different protesters blocked highways in a number of Brazilian states on Monday in an obvious protest in opposition to the defeat of Bolsonaro, who was backed by main enterprise pursuits.
Burning tyres, vans and vehicles blocked a number of factors within the west-central farm state of Mato Grosso, which largely helps Bolsonaro, an organization that manages a freeway within the state mentioned.
Highway blockages have been additionally seen in no less than 5 different states, together with Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, in keeping with native media.
Lula criticised Bolsonaro on Sunday evening for not acknowledging the consequence.
“Anywhere else on the earth, the defeated president would have known as me to recognise his defeat,” the president-elect mentioned in his victory speech to a euphoric sea of red-clad supporters in Sao Paulo.
Lula additionally vowed to work for “peace and unity” within the divided nation. “I’ll govern for 215 million Brazilians, and never simply for individuals who voted for me,” he mentioned. “There usually are not two Brazils. We’re one nation, one individuals, one nice nation.”
A senior staffer at Bolsonaro’s marketing campaign headquarters mentioned the president went unaccompanied from his official residence to the presidential palace on Monday morning, however he was declining conferences and calls even from his closest aides and political associates.
His three sons, who’re very lively on social media, even have maintained complete radio silence and posted nothing since Sunday’s defeat was declared by Brazil’s electoral authority.
In the meantime, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez flew to Sao Paulo on Monday to satisfy Lula for lunch. Fernandez had hailed “a brand new period for the historical past of Latin America. A time of hope and future that begins right this moment.”
US President Joe Biden can also be anticipated to talk to Lula later within the day. Biden shortly congratulated the Brazilian chief on Sunday, saying in a press release that he had received “free, truthful and credible elections”.
“I stay up for working collectively to proceed the cooperation between our two nations within the months and years forward,” Biden mentioned.
Todo mi amor, mi admiración y mi respeto, querido compañero. Tenemos un futuro que nos abraza y nos convoca.@LulaOficial pic.twitter.com/XEbKPI42O0
— Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) October 31, 2022