'It wasn't me who lost — the system won': Flávio Bolsonaro concedes victory to Lula on the same day a court orders him to surrender his passport
The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro promised to organize the opposition from Congress to challenge Lula's new term.
Former conservative Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has called off, at least for now, his challenge to the election results in Brazil, which declared the leftist leader Lula da Silva president.
The right-wing candidate and Brazilian senator abandoned his attempt on Monday to overturn the presidential runoff and conceded, in effect, Lula's victory, just one day after alleging electoral fraud and amid a judicial investigation that already prevents him from leaving the country, as the Brazilian judiciary — which critics say is sympathetic to Lula — ordered him to surrender his passport.
According to The Washington Post, the turnaround came just minutes after President Donald Trump spoke to the press at the White House. Although Trump questioned the election, he gave no indication that he intended to intervene on behalf of the son of his longtime ally, Jair Bolsonaro, who remains under house arrest in the capital, Brasília.
Flávio did not use the word "defeat" in his concession speech, but he did imply that his political future lies in opposing Lula.
"It wasn't me who lost; the system won," he stated, and promised to organize the opposition from Congress to confront Lula's new term. Instead of insisting on having the election annulled, he announced a lawsuit against the president for abuse of power, based on the increase in the country's main social benefit that the leftist government announced shortly before the runoff election.
The offensive against the election result was thus quickly thwarted. Bolsonaro had called the extension of Sunday's voting hours a "dirty trick," a decision made by Federal Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who had previously served as Lula's personal attorney.
The last-minute decision was heavily criticized on election day due to its unusual nature. According to the official account, the measure was in response to bad weather, transportation problems and requests from both campaigns.
The problem for Bolsonaro is that nearly all of the country's authorities recognized Lula as the winner, so the conservative candidate and his team decided to back down.
President Trump, however, made clear his distrust of the Brazilian electoral system, whose image has been deteriorating in recent years, as well as its justice system, which has been accused of bias and manipulation.
"Frankly, it looked like another rigged election. I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible image for the world," Trump said.
The legal front carries as much weight as the electoral one. Bolsonaro said that the Federal Police ordered him to surrender his passport, pursuant to a ruling by Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the same judge who oversaw the case against his father and who had a dispute with Washington. Flávio is under investigation for corruption and money laundering; he denies any wrongdoing and insists he has no intention of fleeing.
A family advisor described a scenario of fear to the Post. "Flávio has given up. He's terrified," he said, explaining that he is worried his father — who is currently under house arrest after being convicted of attempting to overturn the election won by Lula — might die in prison, and that he himself might end up behind bars.
The result took many by surprise. Bolsonaro had won the first round on Oct. 4 and entered the runoff as the favorite, but Lula prevailed on Sunday with 51.8% to 48.2%, a margin of 4.4 million votes, and gained more than 10 million votes compared to the first round.
For the White House, the outcome represents a setback for its regional strategy. Over the past year and a half, Washington has welcomed the rise of several right-wing governments aligned with Trump in Latin America.
🛠 Do you think there is an error in this article?
Recommendations
LATEST
