After almost forty-eight hours of silence since the announcement of the result of the presidential election, the Head of State has promised “to respect all the commandments of [the] Constitution”, without formally recognizing his defeat .
by, and
He descended at high speed the red ramp which leads to the golden show of the Alvorada palace, followed by around twenty ministers and relatives. After almost forty-eight hours of silence since his defeat in the presidential election on Sunday, October 30, Jair Bolsonaro has finally deigned to address the nation since his official Brasilia residence. While a storm suddenly obscured the sky, the closed face and the tight jaws, the president of Brazil put on his glasses and read his speech word for word, hardly looking up at the hundred journalists who have been waiting for him for more of one hour. The speech lasted less than two minutes. He never pronounced the name of his left opponent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, nor explicitly recognized his defeat.
Jair Bolsonaro began by thanking the “58 million Brazilians” who voted in his favor, before mentioning the mobilizations of his supporters who, since Sunday evening, have blocked hundreds of roads throughout the whole country to challenge the results of the ballot. The president did not wish to overwhelm them too much. All this is only “the fruit of indignation and the feeling of injustice linked to the way in which the electoral process took place,” he said, while condemning violence and affirming that ” Our methods cannot be those of the left “. Forced and forced, Jair Bolsonaro finally promised “to respect all the commandments of our Constitution”. And left, even more rapidly applauded, applauded by his ministers and ignoring the journalists who challenged him: “President, you will finally recognize the defeat?”
Ciro Nogueira, Minister of Casa Civil (equivalent to “super” chief of staff), then succeeded him to the desk. “We will start the transition process by strictly following the law,” he said. It was a question here of satisfying the judges of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the highest judicial body of the country, which, all day, did everything to force the president to publicly recognize the results of the ballot and avoid, in the long term, Any legal continuation for non-compliance with the Constitution.
“is a big step”
Beyond the maneuver, and despite its ambiguities and its brevity, the speech sent, according to the observers, overall positive signals. “Bolsonaro said that he would respect the Constitution and have spoken out against violent demonstrations. It is a big step. He could not go so far as to recognize Lula’s victory and congratulate him. It would have been too a jump Great compared to its militant base “, estimates Mayra Goulart, political scientist and professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
You have 72.1% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.