Bolsonaro: If nothing abnormal is found, there is no reason to question the election result

THE Zaich Bolsonaro assured that he would recognize his possible defeat in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election next Sunday (30/10), in the event that “nothing abnormal” is observed in the process.

“Everyone says that my acceptance (by the citizens) is much higher than that of my opponent (by the center-left former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva). But let’s leave it to the polls…let’s leave it to the electoral transparency commission”Mr. Bolsonaro said during an interview with the SBT television network, when asked if he would accept the result in case of defeat.

“If the transparency commission, which also includes the armed forces, does not find that anything abnormal has happened, there is no reason for me to question the outcome of the election.”added the former captain who, for months leading up to the election, had repeatedly spoken of “fraud” through the electronic voting system used in Brazil.

Mr Bolsonaro had gone so far as to threaten that he would not accept the result if he lost to Lula, the candidate of the Workers’ Party (PT).

For a long time, Lula seemed headed for an electoral victory, according to most polls. In May, he had a lead of 21 percentage points over the head of state, according to the Datafolha institute.

But his margin over the far-right candidate turned out to be much smaller in the first round on October 2: It did not exceed 5 points, as Mr Bolsonaro secured 43% of the vote, defying predictions.

In the final stretch of the election campaign, the far-right president put aside his attacks on the electronic voting system and turned on another of his favorite targets, polling institutes, accusing them of “lying” and favoring his opponent.

The most recent survey of the reference institute Datafolha it brought Lula ahead in terms of voting intentions (49%, unchanged), but Mr. Bolsonaro rose to 45% (+1), implying that he may even have tied him (at 47%), given that the margin of statistical error of the survey was ±2%. 1% of the sample declared undecided, 4% that they will vote blank or void.

The interview given by Mr Bolsonaro yesterday was shown instead of the second debate between the two opponents in the second round. Lula decided not to participate due to “incompatibility with his campaign schedule,” organizers said.