Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered police to remove roadblocks erected by supporters of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who still has not publicly acknowledged his election defeat to left-wing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday called on the Federal Highway Police to disperse the blockades, which were organised primarily by truckers, a key Bolsonaro constituency.
The highway police said truckers had blocked highways at 271 points, partially or fully, as part of protests that have spread to 23 of Brazil’s 26 states in the wake of Bolsonaro’s loss to Lula in Sunday’s election.
The police force said another 192 roadblocks had been cleared.
Bolsonaro made a brief public statement on Tuesday afternoon after nearly two days of silence, but he did not acknowledge his narrow defeat in the run-off, which saw him garner 49.1 percent of the vote compared with Lula’s 50.9 percent.
Instead, he thanked his supporters and said he would follow Brazil’s constitution, which stipulates that the new government will come into office on January 1. Bolsonaro’s chief of staff said the former army captain had “authorised” the transition.
His silence – both in public and on social media – and refusal to immediately concede defeat had spurred concerns that Bolsonaro could be seeking ways to contest the results.
For months, Bolsonaro has falsely claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting system is vulnerable to fraud. Critics said the allegation was part of a plan to contest his likely defeat and similar to tactics used by former US President Donald Trump, whom Bolsonaro has emulated.
Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew, reporting from Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, said many of the far-right leader’s allies have acknowledged Lula’s victory.
Some, including his chief of staff Ciro Nogueira, have already begun to establish contact with the Lula camp to discuss a transition while others, including the speaker of the lower house of Congress, have publicly said the Bolsonaro government should respect the election result.
Still, Yanakiew described Bolsonaro’s silence as a “very loud” one that was complicating what should be a smooth transition.
Meanwhile, pro-Bolsonaro protesters have blocked roads across the country, including outside Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport, the country’s main international air hub, as well as in Rio de Janeiro. A banner reading “Lula…