Jair Bolsonaro, who has been on a wall of silence since his defeat on Sunday in the second round of the presidential election won by Lula, played a funny game during a three-minute speech on Tuesday. Without mentioning his defeat or the victory of his opponent Lula, the far-right Brazilian president thanked those who voted for him and pledged to continue to respect the constitution, while deeming “peaceful demonstrations welcome.” On the other hand, he criticized the various bans across the country since the results were announced (50.9% for Lula, 49.1% for the outgoing president).
“I have always been called anti-democratic, but unlike my accusers, I have always respected the Constitution. I have never tried to control or censor the media and social media. As a President and as a citizen, I will continue to respect the dictates of our Constitution. He declared. I want to start by thanking the 58 million Brazilians who voted for me. The current popular movements are the fruit of anger and sense of injustice in the face of the conduct of the electoral process. Peaceful protests are always welcome, but our methods cannot be left-wing, they always harm the people, such as trespassing on property, tradition Extermination, restriction of right to come and go etc.
read more: Lula, the demon
The president’s chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, confirmed that he will begin the process of transitioning power once he takes office. So the worst seems to have been avoided. And the fears remained serious.
The far-right president actually launched relentless attacks during the election campaign against the “fraudulent” system of electronic ballot boxes, raising fears that he would not recognize the verdict of the ballot boxes. Two days before the polls he said incredulously: “Whoever gets the most votes wins. This is democracy.”
read more: A successful crash test for Brazilian democracy
On Monday, the day after the leftist’s victory, several roadblocks were set up across the country by Bolsonaro supporters. The movement grew on Tuesday and the police had to fire tear gas to enforce the Supreme Court’s order to “immediately block roads and public thoroughfares”.
read more: With Lula’s election, the Amazon breathes again