“I have always been labeled as undemocratic. Unlike my accusers, I always played within the four lines of the Constitution,” he said.
The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has not spoken openly on Tuesday about the result of the last elections in which the left-wing candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly won, although he has said that he will comply with the Constitution.
After more than 24 hours of silence, Bolsonaro began his short speech from the Alvorada Palace, thanking the 58 million Brazilian citizens for their vote and then saying that he will follow the Constitution in the framework of the transfer of powers.
“I have always been labeled as anti-democratic. Unlike my accusers, I always played within the four lines of the Constitution. I never talked about controlling the media and social networks,” he has sentenced, emphasizing the “robust” representation of the right in Congress, according to the newspaper ‘Folha de S.Paolo’.
Bolsonaro, who has generated expectation for arriving late at the Alvorada Palace, has also referred to the roadblocks that, according to him, are motivated “by indignation” and the “injustice” that the elections have caused. Thus, he has called these events “peaceful demonstrations”, while he has made it clear that the methods of his supporters “cannot be those of the left”.
After the president’s statement, which lasted barely two minutes, the minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, came to the podium and announced that he had been authorized by Bolsonaro to lead the transfer of powers to his successor, whom he called “President Lula”, according to the newspaper ‘O Globo’.
Bolsonaro’s statements come after the governors of several Brazilian states have decided to mobilize the Military Police, which reports directly to the regions, in the face of apparent federal inaction to remove roadblocks.
A judge of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, has endorsed that the state security forces can be deployed to collaborate in the tasks that, theoretically, correspond to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), which depends on the central government.
In total, there are five states -Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná- that have mobilized their Police this Tuesday and join Pernambuco, which has been working together with the PRF since Monday. for unblocking roads.
The protests have been taking place since former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Sunday’s elections, without the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, having yet spoken out to acknowledge the defeat or at least urge his followers to respect democratic channels.
