EDITORIAL: Flávio Bolsonaro must honor the Brazilian Republic and accept the election result

Shortly after the result of the election in which Brazil chose to re-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with 64.2 million votes, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro announced it was “impossible” to acknowledge his defeat and said he would seek to have the runoff annulled in court.

A decision of such gravity requires compelling justification.

But there is none.

Flávio emerged from the election stronger than many on the right had assumed possible back when his father chose him to run for president.

With 59.8 million votes, he surpassed Jair Bolsonaro ’s totals in 2018 and 2022 and despite losing his first presidential race, he established himself as a competitive candidate capable of bringing millions of supporters to the streets.

It is now imperative that he not diminish himself to play the role that led his father to prison, one of his brothers into self-imposed exile and inspired thousands of people to put their families’ futures at risk in an uprising against democracy and the Constitution.

It is easier to be magnanimous in victory than in defeat.

From its statesmen — as the senator spent months presenting himself to the country — the Brazilian Republic demands the courage to accept defeat and the example of someone who puts the public interest above pride and partisan calculations.

It is striking that the basis of his challenge is a court decision that gave Brazilian citizens more time to exercise their right to vote, especially after his own campaign asked the electoral court to extend voting hours in five states.

That request itself acknowledged that the deadline was not absolute and could be extended in extraordinary circumstances.

If heavy rains in the Southeast and South made it harder for a significant number of voters whom the senator considered his supporters to reach polling stations, the same was true of the lack of public transportation in Salvador , the city that delivered Lula his largest net vote advantage.

The aggravating factor is that this was not a natural phenomenon, but the result of decisions by political and business actors, for reasons that remain unclear.

Assine gratuitamente a newsletter Últimas Notícias do JOTA e receba as principais notícias jurídicas e políticas do dia no seu email JOTA reporters visited bus garages in Salvador and saw vehicles sitting idle without the impediments cited by the city’s public transport operators.

To prevent well-founded suspicions that voter suppression has become a tool of electoral competition in Brazil, the case must be investigated seriously.