issuing time:
The victory or defeat of the presidential election in Brazil was decided, the National Electoral Commission ruled that Lula won the election, Bolsonaro lost the election. But Bolsonaro has yet to react even minimally. He hasn’t spoken since the results were announced as the whole world congratulated his opponent. In Brazil, where the democratic culture is still fragile, the atmosphere is suddenly very tense, as supporters of the defeated candidate Bolsonaro want to stop him with all their might.
Brazil: Bolsonaro is silent after Lula’s victory Silence was like a bomb.
Evangelical pastor Damares Alves, a former ultra-conservative minister for human rights, families and women of Jair Bolsonaro, acknowledged his candidate’s defeat in the presidential election. Additionally, the head of state’s partner, First Lady Michel Bolsonaro, also subtly “liked” a social media post from a Bolsonaro influencer who acknowledged Lula’s victory.
On Sunday evening, Jornal de São Paulo wrote that some of the outgoing president’s allies had ruled out questioning the official election result, with Bolsonaro receiving 49.1 percent of the vote. However, the Brazilian nationalist right-wing champion himself remained silent. Bolsonaro’s Twitter account has been closed. When his supporters prayed to God for him on the streets of Brasilia, he didn’t even go to meet them. Bolsonaro did not give any indicative message to his supporters.
According to Brazilian media, Bolsonaro stayed with his eldest son Flavio in the Alvorada presidential palace the night after the elections. He had secret talks with his running mate, General Walter Braga Neto. According to Liberation, he spoke on the phone with Alexandre de Morais, the head of the Higher Electoral Tribunal in charge of informing him of the results. But on the other hand, the outgoing president refused to speak to others, including ministers.
In the evening, according to the media, the president, who will remain in office until January 1, 2023, had gone to “sleep”. Then, when he woke up on Monday, he went back to Palazzo Planto like every day.
An AFP photographer noted that he did not make a timely statement. But our São Paulo correspondent, Martin Bernard, said he met his running mate again.
The winner, Lula, was “worried” and regretted that the losing candidate didn’t call him the traditional way. Others pointed out that Bolsonaro did not even thank his more than 58 million voters.
But the truckers who support Bolsonaro have been mobilized. Bolsonaro lacks military dictatorships and does not like electronic voting. But shortly before the elections he had promised to recognize the result: “Whoever has the most votes wins. This is democracy.”
So his silence in the wake of the US Capitol incident did not reassure Lula’s supporters at a time when the presidential election results showed that young democracy had never been so divided.
In the early hours of this morning, Brazilian truckers set up checkpoints in at least 11 states and Brasilia, including the highways between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the two largest cities in Brazil. About 236 demonstrations in the 20 Brazilian states partially or completely blocked roads Monday night, according to authorities. During the day, some were calling for a coup.
Rumors abounded across Brazil on Monday.
