Brasília (dpa) - The right-wing party of the defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has acknowledged the election victory of the left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – albeit with reservations. The day after the vote, it called for clarification on outstanding issues regarding the electoral process.

Flávio Bolsonaro, who is currently barred from leaving the country following a court ruling, intends to use legal means to prevent Lula from serving a fourth term. He has received political backing from US President Donald Trump, who described the election result as "rigged".

“We recognise the result of the presidential election announced by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the issues raised must be properly clarified,” explained Valdemar Costa Neto, leader of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL). The party criticises the fact that social benefits were paid out earlier than planned – namely shortly before Sunday’s vote.

Immediately after the election result was announced, Flávio Bolsonaro had stated that he would not accept the defeat and intended to seek the annulment of the entire election. On Monday, however, he changed his strategy – he now no longer wishes to challenge the election result itself, but rather to have Lula’s conduct of the election campaign examined by the courts. In this way, he hopes to prevent Lula and Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin from being sworn in on the grounds of alleged abuse of political and economic power during the election campaign. Bolsonaro did not explicitly admit defeat.

Trump comes to Bolsonaro's aid

US President Trump, too, fuelled the right-wing camp’s doubts about the legitimacy of the voting process and its outcome. “Whilst I haven’t taken sides, it looked like yet another rigged election,” the US President told journalists. “You know, elections must be beyond reproach, and to me it looked very bad.”

Trump left it unclear on what grounds he was questioning the official election result. To this day, the Republican refuses to acknowledge his own defeat in the 2020 US presidential election, even though his allegations of fraud have since been refuted countless times.

In the conflict with Brazil’s judiciary, Trump had clearly sided with Flávio’s father, Jair Bolsonaro. Trump sharply criticised the former president’s sentencing to more than 27 years in prison for his involvement in an attempted coup. Although he and the former military officer Jair Bolsonaro are regarded as political allies, the US President refrained from publicly supporting his son Flávio during the election campaign.

In Sunday’s run-off, the 80-year-old Lula prevailed with 51.8 per cent of the vote against Flávio Bolsonaro, who received 48.2 per cent. Should the right’s opposition prove unsuccessful, the left-wing politician could take office for his fourth term in January.

Money-laundering allegations: Bolsonaro must hand over his passports

As well as legal disputes over the election itself, Flávio Bolsonaro is also facing ongoing money-laundering proceedings. Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court judge who is reviled by the right-wing camp, ordered on Monday that the defeated presidential candidate’s passports be revoked and that he be barred from leaving the country.

According to the 45-year-old, the Federal Police ordered him to hand over his documents after he had visited his father, who is under house arrest following his prison sentence. Flávio Bolsonaro attributed the order to a statement made by his brother Eduardo, who lives in the US. Prior to the election, Eduardo had advocated that Flávio leave the country in the event of an election defeat.

“I have never considered leaving the country. I will hand over my passports and fight against this absurdity, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me,” said Flávio Bolsonaro in a video.

The case concerns alleged money laundering in connection with companies and online sports betting. According to the Federal Police, they found evidence of a link between Flávio Bolsonaro and a bank account belonging to the firm of a lawyer who is also facing charges. Bolsonaro denies this.

Author: kalpidis.marc

Bolsonaro’s party acknowledges Lula’s victory – Trump is sceptical

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