Brazil | Bolsonaro will not comment on the election result until Tuesday – allies encourage him to admit defeat

President Jair Bolsonaro silence made headlines in Brazilian newspapers on Monday. The country was waiting to see how the sitting president of Brazil would comment on his election defeat.

Bolsonaro lost to the former president in the second round of Sunday’s presidential election Luiz Inácio to Lula da Silva. The election was tight. The winner Lula received 50.9 percent of the votes and the loser Bolsonaro’s vote share was 49.1 percent.

Appearing in public to tens of thousands of supporters, Lula has demanded that Bolsonaro admit his defeat.

“He hasn’t called me yet, and I don’t know if he will,” Lula said of El País newspaper by.

Read more: Lula defeated Bolsonaro and returns to power in Brazil

Monday evening Minister of Communications Fabio Faria told the news agency Reuters that Bolsonaro will not speak publicly about his defeat until Tuesday.

Over Monday the continued silence has raised concerns about Bolsonaro’s reaction. Many experts had predicted that Bolsonaro would deny his defeat.

He seems to have been preparing a lie about it for a long time. Bolsonaro has accused the election authorities of dark intentions and stated that the system is against him.

In the morning Bolsonaro went to his office, but he continued his silence throughout the day. His three children, who are active in politics, have also been able to remain silent, El País reports.

However, some of Bolsonaro’s allies have already recognized Lula’s election victory. According to Brazilian newspapers, they have also encouraged Bolsonaro to comment on the election result and admit his defeat.

O Globo reports that after several rounds of discussions with ministers, Bolsonaro has promised to issue a statement in which he announces that he will not challenge the election result. However, a sitting president is not expected to congratulate his successor.

Before the election Bolsonaro persistently sowed suspicion towards the electronic voting devices in use in Brazil. He has claimed that they are easy to manipulate, even though the devices have been in use since 1996 without any problems to mention.

According to polls, three quarters of his supporters have little or no confidence in the electoral system. According to the Reuters news agency, however, international election observers and diplomats have stated that they believe Brazil’s democratic institutions will survive the situation.

According to media reports, after the election night defeat, Bolsonaro isolated himself in the Alvorada Palace and went to bed early. The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that Bolsonaro refused to receive even his close ministers and MPs who tried to visit him.