Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gives a thumbs up after voting during the presidential run-off election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 30.PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP/Getty Images
Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday avoided conceding defeat in his first public remarks since losing Sunday’s election, saying protests since then were the fruit of “indignation and a sense of injustice” over the vote.
His chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, speaking after Mr. Bolsonaro’s brief public address, said Mr. Bolsonaro had authorized him to begin the transition process with representatives of leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
It took Mr. Bolsonaro more than 44 hours to make his first public remarks since the election was decided by electoral authorities, making him the first Brazilian president to lose a re-election bid. He has still not spoken with Mr. Lula.
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Amid his silence, supporters blocked highways to protest his defeat, with some calling for a military coup to stop Mr. Lula, a former president, from returning to power. Mr. Bolsonaro’s delay in recognizing Mr. Lula’s election raised fear that he would contest the narrow result of the election.
In a national address on Tuesday that lasted just a few minutes, Mr. Bolsonaro thanked Brazilians who voted for him and reiterated that he would follow the country’s constitution, which stipulates a transition of power on Jan. 1.
He referred to the demonstrations as a “popular movement” and said they should avoid destroying property or “impeding the right to come and go.”
That may not be enough to defuse the protests across Brazil by small groups of his supporters, which have begun to cause economic disruptions draw calls from farm and retail groups for Bolsonaro to begin a transition.
Truckers supportive of President Jair Bolsonaro block a highway to protest his run-off election loss, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 1.Andre Penner/The Associated Press
Close political allies, including his chief of staff and Vice-President, Hamilton Mourao, have begun to make contact with the Lula camp to discuss a transition. Others, including the speaker of the lower house of Congress, called on the Bolsonaro government to respect the election result.
The powerful agricultural lobby CNA, representing farmers who were important campaign donors for Mr. Bolsonaro, said it was ready for conversations with the incoming government.
Before Sunday’s vote, Mr. Bolsonaro repeatedly made baseless claims the electoral system was open to fraud and accused electoral authorities of favouring his leftist adversary.
Mr. Lula’s victory represents a stunning comeback for the 77-year-old former metalworker, spent 19 months in jail for corruption convictions before they were annulled last year.
Mr. Lula has vowed to overturn many of Mr. Bolsonaro’s policies, including pro-gun measures and weak protection of the Amazon rain forest.