SÃO PAULO—Brazil’s President
Jair Bolsonaro
on Tuesday vowed to respect the constitution after he lost the presidential election to
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
ending a tense silence of 45 hours in which he had refused to acknowledge the results even as his allies urged him to do so.
Mr. Bolsonaro didn’t comment on his loss in Sunday’s runoff vote in a press conference in Brasília, the capital. His chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, flanking Mr. Bolsonaro in the briefing, told reporters that the president had authorized him to begin the transition process that would end with Mr. da Silva’s inauguration on Jan. 1.
Mr. Bolsonaro thanked the more than 58 million people who voted for him, saying that protests by truckers across the country Tuesday in support of his government were the result of “indignation and feelings of injustice over the electoral process.”
Truckers blocked a highway in the outskirts of São Paulo on Tuesday to protest the results of Brazil’s runoff election.
Photo:
Andre Penner/Associated Press
“I will continue complying with the orders of the constitution—it’s an honor to be the leader of millions of Brazilians who, like myself, believe in economic freedom, religious freedom, free speech, honesty and the green and yellow colors of our national flag,” said Mr. Bolsonaro, speaking to reporters from his official residence.
Mr. Bolsonaro has spent much of the past few years raising allegations of fraud in Brazil’s electronic-voting system and warned that this year’s election could be stolen from him, without presenting evidence.
Brazilian stocks pared their gains after his two-minute speech, which press reports had suggested would be an official concession of his defeat.
The 67-year-old former army captain came close to winning, but ultimately lost Sunday’s runoff election to Mr. da Silva, a leftist former president, in the closest presidential race in Brazil’s history. In the final tally, Mr. da Silva, a 77-year-old former trade-union…
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