BRASÍLIA — Flávio Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party said on Monday it recognizes the result of Brazil’s presidential runoff, even as the defeated senator vowed to seek to annul the vote and US President Donald Trump suggested the election was rigged.
“We recognise the presidential election results,” party leader Valdemar Costa Neto said. “But we believe the issues raised need to be properly clarified.”
Bolsonaro has not formally conceded. He called the result “unacceptable” and said: “We will take legal action… I will request that these elections be annulled.” His complaint centers on Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin’s decision to extend voting by two hours, which both campaigns had requested.
Pedro Burgos of Insper estimated the extension allowed about 35,000 extra votes, less than 0.03 percent of the total, Al Jazeera reported. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won by more than 4.4 million votes.
“Elections have to be indisputable and it looked very bad to me,” Trump told reporters. “It looked like another rigged election, frankly.” He said he did not take sides.
Hours after his loss, Bolsonaro was banned from leaving Brazil and ordered to hand over all his passports within 24 hours. The Guardian reported that the ruling, by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, cites a federal police money-laundering investigation. Bolsonaro said it followed a podcast remark by his US-based brother Eduardo.
“I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty,” Bolsonaro said.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian
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