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BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ’s comeback to win Brazil’s presidential runoff Sunday is facing its first hurdle as his competitor, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, attempts to mount an organized opposition to the results.
Lula, who convinced an extra 10.4 million voters to support him in the runoff, is expected to take office on Jan. 5, 2027, for his fourth non-consecutive term.
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He will serve as a counterweight in a region where leaders are shifting to the right and aligning with U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, promised to cozy up to the Trump administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday, without providing evidence, that Lula’s reelection was “rigged.”
“Elections have to be indisputable and it looked very bad to me,” Trump told reporters before flying to Mississippi for a rally. He added, “I thought it had a very bad look, the way it was tabulated.”
Trump also said: “It looked like another rigged election, frankly.”
At a news conference Sunday, Bolsonaro said he planned to request an annulment of the election following a chaotic extension of voting at the request of both candidates. But in a video on his social media channels on Monday he did not repeat that message and promised to organize opposition to Lula.
Bolsonaro said he will press the electoral court to nullify the election results, which it has never done before.
That would be a high hurdle: Bolsonaro would have to present evidence that the 4.4 million votes by which Lula won the election were fraudulent — and convince the full eight-member electoral court of that. He would need to do that before the election results are certified on Dec.18.
“I am going to gather elected lawmakers and senators to organize our strategy and make the lower house and the Senate our fortress against barbaric acts that are set to happen in another four years of Lula,” Bolsonaro said.
Bolsonaro also said he visited his father in house arrest on Monday. Jair Bolsonaro, who is now serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt, unsuccessfully contested his loss to Lula four years ago.
Early signs from Brazil’s institutions and from leaders across the region, including conservative presidents who oppose Lula, suggest the results will be respected nationally and internationally.
Even with the vote extension, Lula’s win was decisive. The soon-to-be 81-year-old incumbent won more than 64 million votes compared to just under 60 million for Bolsonaro, a margin of nearly four per cent.
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