OMM Newsroom
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro said late Sunday that his legal team would formally seek to annul the country’s presidential runoff, after he narrowly lost to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Anadolu Agency reported.
Speaking to supporters shortly after the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) declared Lula the winner, the Liberal Party (PL) candidate criticised the Federal Supreme Court (STF) over its decision to extend voting hours nationwide.
“We will engage our legal team and seek to have these elections annulled,” Bolsonaro said. “I will not accept that the rules of the game have been arbitrarily changed—once again—by Lula’s friends on the Federal Supreme Court.”
Bolsonaro focused his criticism on STF Justice Cristiano Zanin, who issued a last-minute ruling extending polling hours across Brazil until 7 pm Brasília time. The ruling followed emergency petitions concerning transport blockades and severe weather.
The defeated senator condemned the decision, noting that Zanin had previously served as Lula’s personal defence lawyer before being appointed to the high court.
Lula won a historic fourth non-consecutive term with 51.76% of valid votes, or more than 60 million ballots. Bolsonaro received 48.24%.
The election concluded one of the most volatile campaign cycles in modern Brazilian history. Bolsonaro initially led the race on Oct. 4, receiving 47% of the vote against Lula’s 45%.
Lula’s runoff victory makes him the first Brazilian presidential candidate to overcome a first-round deficit since the two-round electoral system was adopted in 1989.
The PL campaign’s challenge is expected to trigger intense legal battles in Brasília as electoral authorities prepare to certify the final election results.
