Brazil: Silent Bolsonaro Keeps Everyone Guessing After Lula Victory

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as of press time, has yet to make any public appearances or statements since Sunday’s election, which he lost to socialist convicted felon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by little more than a percentage point.

Sunday marked a second round of voting in the 2022 presidential election after Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro and a host of other rivals on October 2 but did not pass the 50-percent support threshold necessary to avoid a runoff. Lula, who served two terms as president between 2003 and 2011, was eligible to run for office despite being convicted on corruption charges in 2018 and sentenced to more than two decades in prison because the nation’s top court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), overturned his sentence. In doing so, the STF did not challenge any of the evidence implicating Lula in bribery.

While the 77-year-old was quick to appear in public and deliver a victory speech on Sunday night, Bolsonaro was nowhere to be found, reportedly refusing company at Alvorada, the presidential palace, and ultimately shutting the lights. On Monday afternoon, reports surfaced that he had met with some cabinet members, but neither he nor his campaign has made any public statements at press time. Lula did not say in his victory speech that Bolsonaro had conceded or reached out to him at all.

With the nation desperate for news from its head of state, the establishment newspaper O Globo published some distant, grainy images of a man appearing to be Bolsonaro at the presidential offices, Planalto, and reports that the president had met with some of his inner circle, including eldest son Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, his chief of staff, and his vice presidential running mate, Gen. Walter Braga Netto:

Bolsonaro chega ao Palácio do Planalto e permanece em silêncio sobre vitória de Lula nas eleições. https://t.co/8U9xJEKV1h pic.twitter.com/pwSzZUI7qs

— O Globo Política (@OGloboPolitica) October 31, 2022

An anonymous presidential “source” told Brazilian news outlet UOL that Bolsonaro had not yet “defined” how he would proceed following his election loss, leaving open the possibility that he would challenge the results. With all votes in, Lula reportedly received 50.9 percent of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro’s 49.1, a difference of about two million votes. An estimated 20 percent of voters abstained from choosing any candidate, a slight decline in the number who abstained in the first round but, nonetheless, a much more sizable number than the difference between the candidates.

UOL said that its source insisted that any potential challenge by Bolsonaro to the election results would remain “within the confines of the constitution.”

The outlet noted, however, that this is already longer than any candidate has waited to concede since at least 2002, when Lula won a decisive 61-39 percent victory against centrist candidate José Serra.

The only person who has said on the record that he has spoken to Bolsonaro since the election results passed is the head of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, who also serves as one of the most powerful justices on the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF). It is customary for the head of the TSE to speak to both candidates when the results of the presidential election are released.

“President Bolsonaro attended to me with extreme decorum, just as President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did,” de Moraes said publicly, dismissing the chance that Bolsonaro would contest the election.

De Moraes and Bolsonaro are bitter enemies, as de Moraes has abused his power on the STF to order violent police raids on Bolsonaro supporters and imprisoned a conservative congressman, Daniel Silveira, over a Youtube video in which he criticized the top court. The STF – the same court that overturned Lula’s conviction – sentenced Silveira to eight years in prison for his opinions, a sentence Bolsonaro annulled using his pardon powers.

In the absence of any Bolsonaro statement, Brazilian media outlets desperate for content have begun speculating about trouble in his marriage, noting that first lady Michelle Bolsonaro does not follow the president’s official Twitter account. Some rumors blame his son, lawmaker Carlos Bolsonaro – who allegedly runs the president’s account – for not following the first lady first. Multiple reports then followed the initial attempt at a Twitter scandal, observing that Michelle Bolsonaro did not follow the official Jair Bolsonaro account even before Sunday’s results.

The left-wing Folha de Sao Paulo reported, citing alleged anonymous sources, that Bolsonaro is not working on contesting the election of handling a familial Twitter spat. He is planning a major economic initiative as his goodbye to the top office. In a much less salacious report than those in O Globo and other outlets about the first lady, Folha claimed that Bolsonaro was working at creating a large fund “aimed at housing financing for low-income or informal [gig] workers.”

Bolsonaro’s silence appears to be feeding a growing movement of truckers supportive of the conservative president. At press time, truckers have established road blockades in 14 Brazilian states and the federal district of Brasilia. UOL reported the existence of 100 registered blockades on federal highways:

While the truckers do not appear to have a unified message or demand, some have called for a military intervention to prevent Lula from taking office. Others have simply posted messages urging the country to unite in “patriotism” and defend Bolsonaro, or alleging election fraud.