Brazil Election Results: Will Jair Bolsonaro Accept Defeat After Lula's Win?

By BERT HOOVER First Posted: Oct 31, 2022 09:21 PM EDT

A ministry says President Jair Bolsonaro will not publicly address Brazil's election results until Tuesday.

There are still questions about whether the far-right nationalist will accept that his leftist opponent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won the election.

According to Communications Minister Fabio Faria, Bolsonaro was delaying his remarks so he could return to his home Monday evening and prepare a speech, Reuters noted.

The leader of an allying party, Claudio Cajado, declared that Bolsonaro would address the entire nation on Monday, roughly 24 hours after the election results were announced.

Some of Bolsonaro's advisers, according to Cajado, are encouraging him to concede defeat, although it is unclear whether he will do so.

Lula's win is a surprising comeback for the 77-year-old former metalworker. He led Brazil from 2003 to 2010 but then went to prison for corruption charges that were later overturned.

Bolsonaro stayed at the presidential mansion on Monday without going out in public.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, his eldest child, thanked his father's supporters in a tweet: "Let's raise our heads and not give up on our Brazil! God is in charge!"

Jair Bolsonaro's Supporters Do Not Want To Accept the Brazil Election Results

Fears that Bolsonaro will not agree to a power transfer have grown as Bolsonaro delays conceding.

In the days before Sunday's run-off election, Bolsonaro and some of his supporters made false claims about election fraud and unfair news coverage.

CNN Brasil says that on Monday, truck drivers blocked major roads and highways in at least 12 Brazilian states. They said the race was too tight and wanted to hear from the President. Some people who support Bolsonaro are still waiting to hear from him.

Experts, on the other hand, say that the matter is already out of the outgoing President's hands, whether he admits it or not.

Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court is in charge of confirming election results and communicating them to the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, and State Assemblies.

A press officer for the Electoral Court said the votes are already valid since the court announced the results on Sunday. He also said that the win would be made official at a later court date, but that date has not been set yet.

Jair Bolsonaro's Key Allies Accept the Results

According to The Guardian, while Bolsonaro remained silent, his key allies accepted the outcome, indicating that the populist's power rapidly faded after four turbulent years in office.

One of Bolsonaro's most prominent supporters and well-known televangelist Silas Malafaia tweeted: "The sovereign will of the people has established itself."

Tarcsio de Freitas, the newly elected governor of Sao Paulo, and Bolsonaro supporter, also acknowledged Lula's victory, telling the press, "The election result is sovereign."

"The will of the majority, expressed at the polls, should never be challenged." added another key ally, lower house leader Arthur Lira.

Sergio Moro, a pro-Bolsonaro judge who controversially imprisoned Lula in the 2018 election before joining Bolsonaro's government, also acknowledged the leftist's victory.

He tweeted: "Thus is democracy."

Meanwhile, many of Bolsonaro's initiatives, including those supporting guns and providing lax protection for the Amazon rainforest, would be reversed, Lula has said.

Lula also said he would bring back the social programs and government-driven economic growth that helped millions of people escape poverty during his two terms as president.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Bolsonaro silent after defeat, no concession - From Reuters