Presidential election in Brazil: Bolsonaro is not allowed to leave the country for the time being

dpa | The right-wing party of the defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has recognized the election victory of the left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - but only with reservations. The day after the vote, she called for clarification of open questions about the electoral process. Flávio Bolsonaro, who is not allowed to leave the country for the time being due to a court decision, wants to use legal means to prevent Lula from becoming a fourth term in office. He receives political support from US President Donald Trump, who called the election results “rigged”.

“We recognize the results of the presidential election announced by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the issues raised need to be adequately clarified,” said the leader of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL), Valdemar Costa Neto. The party criticizes the fact that social benefits were paid out earlier than planned - namely shortly before the vote on Sunday.

Immediately after the election results were announced, Flávio Bolsonaro declared that he would not recognize the defeat and would request that the entire election be annulled. On Monday he changed his strategy - he no longer wants to have the election result itself, but rather have Lula's campaign management legally examined. He wants to ensure that Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin are not allowed to be sworn in during the election campaign because of alleged abuse of political and economic power. Bolsonaro did not explicitly admit his defeat.

US President Trump also fueled the right-wing camp's doubts about the legality and outcome of the vote. “I didn’t take sides, but it seemed like another rigged election,” the US president told reporters. “You know, elections have to be uncontestable, and to me it looked very bad.” He left open the basis on which Trump doubts the official election results. The Republican still does not want to acknowledge his own defeat in the 2020 US presidential election, even though his allegations of fraud have since been refuted countless times.

Trump clearly supported Flávio's father Jair Bolsonaro in the conflict with Brazil's judiciary. Trump sharply criticized the former president's sentence to more than 27 years in prison for participating in an attempted coup. Although he and ex-military man Jair Bolsonaro are considered political allies, the US president held back from publicly supporting his son Flávio during the election campaign.

In the runoff election on Sunday, the 80-year-old Lula won 51.8 percent of the vote against Flávio Bolsonaro, who received 48.2 percent. If the right's resistance remains unsuccessful, the left-wing politician can take up his fourth term in office in January.

In addition to legal disputes surrounding the election itself, Flávio Bolsonaro is also involved in an ongoing money laundering case. Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, hated by the right-wing camp, ordered on Monday that the losing presidential candidate's passports be canceled and that he be banned from leaving the country.

According to his statement, the federal police asked the 45-year-old to hand over the documents after he visited his father, who is under house arrest as a result of his prison sentence. Flávio Bolsonaro attributed the order to a statement made by his brother Eduardo, who lives in the USA. Before the election, he had advocated that Flávio leave the country in the event of an election defeat.

"I never thought of leaving the country. I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this absurdity, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me," Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video.

The proceedings concern alleged money laundering in connection with companies and online sports betting. According to their own statements, the federal police found evidence of Flávio Bolsonaro's connection to a bank account belonging to the company of a lawyer who was also accused. Bolsonaro denies this.