After the defeat in the elections in Brazil, it is initially quiet about the outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. Even if he doesn’t explicitly acknowledge the victory of his opponent Lula, he wants to “respect the constitution”. Now he reports back – and lodges a complaint.
A good three weeks after right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was voted out of office in Brazil, his party wants some of the votes cast to be declared invalid. The Liberal Party has filed a complaint with the Supreme Electoral Court, said party leader Valdemar da Costa. Bolsonaro’s party doubts that all electronic ballot boxes work properly.
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the October 30 runoff by a narrow margin. So far, Bolsonaro has not explicitly acknowledged his defeat. He had merely announced that he would “respect” the constitution. “I want to thank the 58 million Brazilians who voted for me on October 30,” he said to his constituents. “As President and as a citizen, I will continue to fulfill all the requirements of our Constitution.”
Lula will take office on January 1, 2023. He received 50.9 percent of the votes in the runoff, Bolsonaro got 49.1 percent, according to the electoral office.
Bolsonaro, himself a reserve captain, is an admirer of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. During his tenure, he brought many serving and former officers into government and administration. Even before the vote, he had repeatedly expressed doubts about Brazil’s electronic voting system and indicated that he might not recognize the result. His radical supporters repeatedly called for a military coup against the judiciary and parliament. However, the armed forces never responded.
