The political party of defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has accepted the outcome of Sunday’s run-off election, even as the right-wing senator vowed to challenge the result and US President Donald Trump described the vote as “rigged”.
Valdemar Costa Neto, leader of the Liberal Party, said on Monday that the group recognised the results of the presidential election won by incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“We recognise the presidential election results,” Costa Neto said. “But we believe the issues raised need to be properly clarified.”
Lula defeated Bolsonaro by more than 4.4 million votes, securing over 64.25 million ballots against the senator’s 59.83 million.
Bolsonaro has not formally conceded. In a post-election speech, he called the outcome “unacceptable” and cited a last-minute extension of voting hours ordered by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin.
“We will take legal action,” Bolsonaro told supporters. “I will request that these elections be annulled.”
He later said federal police had ordered him to hand over his passports amid speculation he might leave the country. “I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty,” he said in a social media video.
The voting extension, sought by both campaigns for different reasons, allowed polls that had not closed to remain open until 7pm Brasilia time instead of 5pm. An analysis found the extra time produced about 35,000 additional votes nationwide — less than 0.03 percent of the total and far short of Lula’s margin of victory.
Bolsonaro criticised Zanin, noting that Lula had appointed the justice in 2023 and that Zanin had previously served as the president’s personal lawyer. “With a simple stroke of a pen, at the request of a former partner, [Zanin] changed the rules of the game mid-match,” Bolsonaro said.
Trump told reporters on Monday that the election “looked very bad” and “looked like another rigged election, frankly,” while adding that he “did not take sides” in the race.
Brazilian media reported that legal advisers and political allies had urged Bolsonaro to drop plans to seek annulment of the result, citing the size of Lula’s win and its validation by election authorities and the Supreme Court.
