Brazil’s old and new president is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Incumbent Bolsonaro initially leaves open whether he will accept the result. According to reports, he should have gone to sleep first. Meanwhile, his supporters are already calling for the motorways to be blocked in protest.
After the presidential election in Brazil, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro has not commented on his defeat even hours after the result was announced. After the narrow election victory of his challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, people close to him tried to speak to Bolsonaro, but he had already gone to sleep, the Brazilian news portal “G1” reported. The information could not be verified.
It had previously been feared that violence could break out after Lula’s narrow election victory. Similar to US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro had repeatedly cast doubts on the electoral system before the vote and indicated that he might not recognize the result. Important allies of the right-wing incumbent, such as the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Artur Lira, and the Governor of the state of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, have already recognized Lula’s election victory.
The left ex-president Lula had narrowly won the runoff election for the presidency in the largest country in Latin America. He got 50.90 percent of the votes on Sunday, as announced by the electoral office in Brasília. The right incumbent Bolsonaro received 49.10 percent.
Lula’s election victory sparked celebrations, but also protests. A 27-year-old man was shot dead during clashes in the city of Belo Horizonte. Four other people were injured in the city of Belo Horizonte, local media reported, citing military police. The fatality celebrated Lula’s election victory in a bar. There, both supporters of Lula and the deselected Bolsonaro followed the vote count. It remained unclear whether the act had a political background. The drunk shooter was arrested.
In several states of the South American country, truck drivers protested against the ex-president’s election victory, the newspaper “Folha de S. Paulo” reported, citing the police. Burning tires could be seen on videos on social networks. Bolsonaro supporters with Brazilian flags called for the country’s highways to be blocked, with some calling for military intervention.
Lula has already received numerous international congratulations, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Twitter. About government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, he added: “Like everyone else, we are convinced that there will also be a peaceful transfer of power – as is usual in democracies.”
Lula’s well-wishers included Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin: “The results of the vote have confirmed your high political authority,” Putin wrote, according to the Kremlin. “I’m counting on our joint efforts to ensure the further development of constructive Russian-Brazilian cooperation in all directions.”
