Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro refuses to recognize Lula da Silva’s victory and asks to reconsider elections

President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaromade it clear on Tuesday that he doesn’t want to put up with the win Luis Inacio Lula da Silvathrough a lawsuit in which his party asks for a partial “nullification” of the election results.

The lawsuit was filed for Liberal Party (LP), which supported the far-right leader’s candidacy for re-election, and questions 61% of the electronic ballot boxes used in the second round of the October 30th election.

According to the official result, Lula won in the second round with 50.9%before 49.1% received by Bolsonaro, in a process approved and recognized as transparent by all national and international observer missions involved.

The President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, reacted immediately to the PL’s demand and said that it could only be analyzed if there were doubts about the first round held four weeks earlier.

This first round also saw legislative elections, in which the PL won 99 MPs, giving it its first minority in the lower house starting next year.

LP Chairman, Waldemar Costa Neto, In an ambiguous statement, he elaborated that the report on which the lawsuit is based “does not represent the opinion of the party”, but believes that “it needs to be analyzed” to “strengthen democracy”.

Nonetheless, De Moraes He clarified that suspected urns were used in both rounds, so he called on the PL to “also question the results of the first round within 24 hours.”

Another accusation against the elections amid Bolsonaro’s silence

For the last twenty days Bolsonaro He did not appear in public and disappeared from his social networks, in which he was feverishly active, but although he did not publicly admit defeat, he began the transition process with a team assigned Lula for this end.

However, the LP’s demand has been interpreted as a new attack on the electronic ballot boxes that the far-right leader has been raising suspicions about since Lula began to stand out in the polls more than a year ago.

LP stated that it commissioned an audit from a private company, which concluded that 61% 577 125 ballot boxes used in the second round of the election, made between 2009 and 2015, are “not subject to verification”, unlike others from 2020.

It also ensures that, if only these more modern ballot boxes are taken into account, Bolsonaro won the election with 51.05 % of votes.

Engineer Carlos Rochathe person in charge of the report explained that the old ballot boxes showed “very clear signs of malfunction” and that a “possible inspection, an extraordinary inspection due to an extraordinary event” should be carried out.

Lawyer Marcelo Bessawhich represents the PL, added that “due to this technical report, inconsistencies and relevant data” that he presents, this formation asked the electoral authorities to “check this possible malfunction.”

The LP’s demand sparked an uproar in the camps, where thousands of far-right activists held dozens of barracks at the gates for three weeks, demanding coup which prevents Lula’s inauguration on January 1 of the following year.

Lula’s party calls for an end to ‘spite’

labor party (PT), who led the electoral coalition led by Lula, rejected the LP’s attempt and dismissed it as a “ruse” that could not bring justice.

“Resource Mr. Bolsonaro before the TSE is a ploy that should be sanctioned as bad faith litigation. Enough of anger, irresponsibility and insults to institutions and democracy,” the PT president said. Glasey Hoffmann— said in a message published on Twitter.

“The elections were voted on and Brazil needs peace to build a better future,” added Hoffmann, one of the leaders of the transition team appointed by Lula, who is recovering from minor throat surgery.

(As reported by EFE)