Brazil’s outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro has yet to concede defeat in the presidential election following the astonishing victory of his leftist rival, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro’s silence has raised fears that he might contest Lula’s victory, having repeatedly hinted he might not accept defeat.
Congratulations poured in from foreign leaders including prime minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden, who called the election “free, fair and credible”.
China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron all stepped forward to hail Lula’s return to politics.
Bolsonaro has not, however, spoken publicly since tweeting a passage from the book of Ephesians — a rallying cry to put on the “armour of God” in order to be able to “stand against the wiles of the devil” – just before midnight on Sunday.
Bolsonaro left his residence on Monday morning and headed to the presidential palace, but had still not made any public comments. He is the first Brazilian incumbent to lose a presidential election.
Lula has vowed to overturn his legacy, including pro-gun policies and weak protection of the Amazon rainforest.
“I don’t know if he will call or if he will recognise my victory,” Lula said in a speech to supporters on Sao Paulo’s Paulista Avenue.
A source in the Bolsonaro campaign, however, told Reuters that the president would not make public remarks until Monday.
In a sign that Bolsonaro’s influence is beginning to dwindle, a number of key allies have publicly accepted the result which saw Lula receive 60.3m votes to the current president’s 58.2m.
The recently elected governor of São Paulo Tarcísio de Freitas, a keen supporter of Bolsonaro recognised Lula’s win, told reporters: “The election result is sovereign.”
Another close ally, lower house leader Arthur Lira, said: “The will of the majority, expressed at the polls, should never be challenged.”
Sergio Moro, a judge who controversially jailed Lula in the lead-up to the 2018 election before being offered a job in Bolsonaro’s cabinet, has also recognised Lula’s win.
“Thus is democracy,” he tweeted.
Taking to Twitter, Ricardo Salles, Bolsonaro’s former environment minister said: “The result of the most polarized election in Brazil’s history prompts many reflections and the need to seek ways to pacify a country that is literally split in half. Now is the time for serenity.”
