OMM Newsroom
Brazil’s Liberal Party (PL) has formally recognized the results of Sunday’s presidential runoff, which confirmed the reelection of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over the party’s candidate, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro continues to dispute the vote count, Anadolu Agency reported.
In a statement posted on social media Monday, PL President Valdemar Costa Neto said the party accepted the official results certified by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but would seek answers about social spending carried out before the election by the ruling Workers’ Party (PT).
“We acknowledge the presidential election results, as announced by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the concerns raised need to be properly addressed within a balanced and democratic political debate,” Costa Neto wrote.
“We will continue to monitor the facts and seek answers with responsibility, transparency, and respect for our institutions.”
The PL statement came shortly after TSE President Justice Kassio Nunes Marques confirmed the final election results. Nunes Marques, who was appointed to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) by former President Jair Bolsonaro, expressed “absolute confidence in the entire electoral process,” effectively ending speculation about the integrity of electronic ballots.
Lula won a historic fourth non-consecutive term with 51.76% of valid votes, or more than 60 million ballots. Flavio Bolsonaro received 48.24%. The outcome reversed the first-round result on Oct. 4, when Bolsonaro led by nearly two percentage points.
Despite his party’s recognition of the outcome, Flavio Bolsonaro reiterated Monday that he would pursue legal petitions to annul the election.
“It is impossible to recognize the elections under these conditions. I am going to request that these elections be annulled,” Bolsonaro said, alleging “unprecedented abuses of political and economic power.”
In a video message to supporters on Monday, the senator said he planned to use conservative gains in the National Congress. He vowed to mobilize the right-wing bloc to turn the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate into a “fortress against the barbarism” he said would define Lula’s upcoming term.
Costa Neto pointed to the PL-led coalition’s presence in Congress, which includes 121 federal deputies and 29 senators, as well as six state governorships.
PL leaders said they would pursue grievances over government spending through formal institutional channels, but stopped short of backing Bolsonaro’s demand for a full annulment of the vote.
