Flávio Bolsonaro vows to lead opposition after losing Brazil election

Flávio Bolsonaro has vowed to lead Brazil’s opposition after narrowly losing the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and refusing to concede defeat. The senator received 48.2% of the vote against Lula’s 51.8%, according to France 24 and the South China Morning Post. The Guardian reported the final result as 51.79% to 48.21%, describing Lula’s victory as a historic fourth term and the first runoff win by a candidate who had lost the first round.

In a video posted to Instagram, Bolsonaro said a Supreme Court justice had ordered him to hand over his passports and prohibited him from leaving Brazil. He called the measure an attempt to intimidate him. The reports do not identify the justice or specify the duration of the travel restriction.

Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering linked to the financing of a biopic about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. He denies wrongdoing. He said the passport order was connected to comments by his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker based in the United States, who had reportedly said Flávio would leave Brazil if he lost.

“I never said that,” Flávio Bolsonaro said in the video, according to France 24. He also said he would seek to annul the election, arguing that an extension of voting hours on Sunday had favoured Lula. The extension, which lasted two hours, was requested by Lula because of transport problems in some cities, the South China Morning Post reported.

Despite rejecting the result, Bolsonaro said he would organise resistance to Lula’s government. “To withstand the chaos, I’m going to organise the opposition,” he said. The reports provide no indication that Brazil’s electoral authorities have accepted his challenge.

US President Donald Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, also questioned the result. He told reporters that the election looked “rigged” and corrupt, while saying he had not taken sides. Trump noted that he had a good relationship with Lula but criticised the way the vote was tabulated and the extension of voting hours.

Trump’s comments came as his Republican Party faced US midterm elections on November 3 and risked losing control of Congress. The South China Morning Post noted that Trump has himself disputed his 2020 defeat and has cast doubt on the US midterms. He declined to say whether he planned to take action over Brazil’s election.

The result marks a setback for the Bolsonaro family’s bid to return to power. Flávio had campaigned as a right-wing successor to his father and, according to the supplied reports, had intended to align Brazil with conservative Latin American leaders seeking closer relations with Washington. The election campaign also featured an unusually large digital mobilisation effort for Lula.

The BBC reported that a WhatsApp channel called “Lula’s Army” grew to 10.8 million followers between the two rounds. Lula’s allies credited it with helping his comeback, although political scientists cited by the BBC cautioned that its direct effect on votes could not be measured and attributed the result to a combination of online activity, local organising and changes in campaign messaging.