Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election, but the far-right incumbent did not concede defeat on Sunday night, raising concerns that he might contest the result.
The Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, with 50.9 percent of votes against 49.1 percent for Bolsonaro. The 77-year-old Lula’s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 1.
It was a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro, the first Brazilian incumbent to lose a presidential election.
Photo: AFP
“So far, Bolsonaro has not called me to recognize my victory, and I don’t know if he will call or if he will recognize my victory,” Lula told tens of thousands of jubilant supporters celebrating his win on Sao Paulo’s Paulista Avenue.
In contrast to Bolsonaro’s silence, congratulations for Lula poured in from foreign leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
A source in the Bolsonaro campaign said the president would not make public remarks yesterday. At press time, the Bolsonaro campaign had not responded to a request for comment.
Bolsonaro last year openly discussed refusing to accept the results of the vote, making baseless claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.
One close Bolsonaro ally, lawmaker Carla Zambelli, in an apparent nod to the results, wrote on Twitter: “I PROMISE you, I will be the greatest opposition that Lula has ever imagined.”
Financial markets might be in for a volatile week, with investors gauging speculation about Lula’s Cabinet and the risk of Bolsonaro questioning results.
The vote was a rebuke for the fiery far-right populism of Bolsonaro, who emerged from the back benches of the Brazilian Congress to forge a novel conservative coalition, but lost support as the South American nation ran up one of the worst death tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden congratulated Lula for winning “free, fair and credible elections,” joining the chorus of compliments from European and Latin American leaders.
International election observers said Sunday’s election was conducted efficiently.
One observer told Reuters that military auditors did not find any flaws in integrity tests they did of the voting system.
Truck drivers believed to be Bolsonaro supporters on Sunday blocked a highway in four places in the state of Mato Grosso, a major grains producer, the highway operator said.
In one video circulating online, a man said truckers planned to block main highways, calling for a military coup to prevent Lula from taking office.
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