Bolsonaro’s party concedes Brazil election loss to leftist incumbent Lula
Though right-wing candidate had said he would look to contest results, his Liberal Party says it accepts outcome after falling short in tight runoff election
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SAO PAULO — Flavio Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party on Monday recognized the outcome of Brazil’s presidential runoff, despite the candidate’s objections to the poll won by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, pulled off a dramatic comeback after trailing Bolsonaro in a first-round vote, a defeat which fired up the left on the streets and social media to secure him a fourth term in office.
In the end, Lula pulled around 4.4 million more votes than his rival on Sunday.
Bolsonaro, a right-wing senator and 45-year-old son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, cried foul after polling was extended nationwide for two hours, at Lula’s request, due to transport problems in some cities.
Though Bolsonaro maintained that he will seek annulment of the presidential election, his party later distanced itself from that position and opted to accept the official vote.
“We recognize the presidential election results, as proclaimed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the concerns raised need to be sufficiently addressed within a balanced and democratic political debate,” the party said in a statement late Monday.
Flavio Bolsonaro had also requested polling stations stay open in some regions due to heavy rains, but he described the vote extension as “unacceptable” and a “dirty trick.”
While congratulations rolled in for Lula from world leaders on both sides of the political divide, Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, said the election “looked terrible to me.”
“I didn’t take sides but it looked like another rigged election frankly,” he told reporters in Washington. “It looked so corrupt.”
In a video posted to social media on Monday afternoon, Flavio Bolsonaro said police had ordered he surrender his passports, adding “I am now prohibited from leaving the country.”
He said the decision came from a Supreme Court justice, and was based on a comment by his US-based brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who told a US podcast two days before the election that “if my brother does not win, I am in favor that he would leave the country.”
Eduardo cited investigations against his brother.
Brazilian police are probing Flavio Bolsonaro for corruption over the financing of the biopic “Dark Horse” about his father.
“I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty,” Flavio Bolsonaro said.
The right-wing candidate also took up the mantle as “leadership of the opposition” in a separate statement.
Brazil’s markets tumbled nearly 17 percent and the dollar surged against the real in response to leftist Lula’s re-election, as investors worried about fiscal discipline.
Flavio slammed Lula for “an unprecedented abuse of both political and economic power,” over a flurry of social spending announcements during the campaign.
Lula has been a fierce critic of Israel, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza during its war against Hamas, and has said the only historical equivalent was “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Israel, which vehemently rejects the accusations, launched its war following the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre. Dani Dayan, the chair of Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, said Lula’s comments were “an outrageous combination of hatred and ignorance.”
‘Victory to the rebellious youth’
The left was triumphant after securing a historic turnaround in the vote, with thousands pouring into the streets to celebrate Lula on Sunday night.
Lawyer Julio Canelo, 42, hailed a victory for “the entire democratic spectrum.”
“It was the result of the people mobilizing, in the streets and online,” he told AFP.
Lula’s re-energized campaign to the cry of “Never Again Bolsonaro,” urging people to go out and vote, saw the abstention rate fall from 21 percent to 19 percent in the runoff.
The proportion of spoiled and blank votes also decreased.
“I owe this victory to the rebellious youth who rose up to defend democracy,” Lula told jubilant supporters Sunday night.
European nations, Russia, China, India, South Africa and others congratulated Lula.
Several right-wing governments in Latin America — who are close with Trump — accepted the victory, with Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella saying even though he had backed Bolsonaro: “When the people speak at the ballot box, their will must be respected.”
Bolsonaro’s initial threat to reject the results echoed his father’s refusal to acknowledge losing to Lula in the 2022 elections.
Tension over that result led to hundreds of Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration to demand military intervention.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup to stop Lula from taking office.
Electoral court chief Kassio Nunes Marques, a Bolsonaro appointee to the Supreme Court, hailed the “successful polls” and said there “were no changes” resulting from the decision to extend voting, even if it did create difficulties.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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