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Jair Bolsonaro on his election defeat: "It hurts my soul"

2022-12-10T08:51:31.555Z


Right-wing extremist Jair Bolsonaro was only narrowly defeated in the runoff election for the office of Brazilian President. Now the outgoing head of state has spoken publicly for the first time since his defeat.


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Acting President Bolsonaro: "It hurts, it hurts in my soul"

Photo: TERCIO TEIXEIRA / AFP

Six weeks after his defeat in Brazil's presidential election, far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro spoke publicly for the first time about being voted out.

"I've been silent for practically 40 days," Bolsonaro said on Friday in front of the presidential palace in Brasília.

"It hurts, it hurts in my soul," added the politician, who is forced to hand over office to his left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on January 1.

"I was always a happy person among you, I even risked my life among the people," said Bolsonaro, who was critically injured in a knife attack during the 2018 election campaign.

Brazil is now “at a crucial moment, at a crossroads”.

Army last stronghold against socialism

The outgoing President emphasized that the decision on political leadership rests with the electorate.

"It is the people who decide their fate," said Bolsonaro.

The people also decide about the army and its deployment.

After Bolsonaro's election defeat, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated in front of military barracks and called on the armed forces to prevent Lula from taking over government affairs.

On Friday, Bolsonaro described the army as "the last stronghold against socialism".

Bolsonaro narrowly lost the runoff election for the presidency on October 30.

While he got 49.1 percent, Lula won 50.9 percent of the vote.

After the election, Bolsonaro initially did not comment on his defeat.

Only two days later did the right-wing extremist signal his willingness for a peaceful handover of power to Lula, without explicitly admitting his defeat.

The head of state went into hiding and made only one public appearance, on November 26 at a military school.

More than three weeks after the ballot, Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL) appealed the official election result to the Supreme Electoral Court.

However, the court dismissed the complaint and fined the PL heavily for malicious and unsubstantiated allegations about the conduct of the election.

mike/AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-12-10

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