Politics

Bolsonaro remains silent, 17 hours after losing elections

Brasilia, Oct 31 (EFE).- Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has not spoken publicly since his narrow defeat in Sunday’s election against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The far-right leader spent the night at his official residence in Brasilia and then headed to his office at the Palácio do Planalto, without making remarks on the presidential runoff which he lost by less than two percentage points.

Unusually, he has also been absent from his social media channels.

Although Bolsonaro has not conceded defeat, much less congratulated Lula — his political nemesis — the election results have been accepted by many of his supporters, who have already publicly admitted the left-wing candidate’s victory.

Like their father, none of Bolsonaro’s three sons in official seats — Flavio in the Senate, Eduardo in the Congress and Carlos on Rio de Janeiro’s city council — have commented on the election results and have virtually disappeared from social media since Lula’s victory was announced.

On Sunday, Eduardo Bolsonaro participated in a live streaming to recount ballots with two far-right leaders, but the show was canceled without explanation after it became clear that Lula was nearing the win.

Bolsonaro’s silence has led to fears that he will not accept the results and promptly hand over power to Lula.

In the run up to the vote with Lula enjoying a strong lead in pre-election polls, the far-right leader cast doubt on the country’s voting system — in place since 1996 — and insinuated that he might not recognize the results in case he lost.EFE

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