Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has not explicitly acknowledged his electoral defeat to Lula, is open to a smooth transition of power, Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin said on Thursday after being received at the presidential palace.
During this unscheduled meeting, Jair Bolsonaro expressed “the federal government’s willingness to provide all the information and assistance necessary for a harmonious transition,” Geraldo Alckmin, commissioned by the left-wing head of state-elect Lula to coordinate the process, told the press. of Transition. .
He called the meeting “positive.” Jair Bolsonaro, narrowly defeated last Sunday (49.1% versus 50.9%), had remained silent two days before authorizing this transition by declaring that he would “respect the Constitution.”
But he did not explicitly acknowledge his defeat or congratulate Lula, raising fears of a turbulent period between now and Lula’s January 1 inauguration. The “transition has begun” between the current government and the one Lula will form, Geraldo Alckmin had previously announced, assuring that the process had started on the right foot.
“The conversation was very useful”
Geraldo Alckmin met with representatives of the far-right president in Brasilia, as the country’s protest movements faded against the election of former leftist head of state Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010).
“The conversation was very useful,” said Geraldo Alckmin, former governor of Sao Paulo. “The transition is being done in the best possible way, for the benefit of the population,” he insisted during a brief press conference in Brasilia.
Geraldo Alckmin met with the chief of staff of the head of state, Ciro Nogueira, in the Planalto presidential palace. Lula’s representative was accompanied by Gleisi Hoffmann, president of the Workers’ Party (PT) and the coordinator of the leftist government program, Aloizio Mercadante.
“Lula said it clearly in his (victory) speech, our task is to unify Brazil, so let’s go,” said the vice president-elect.
Obstacles still in place
Geraldo Alckmin, a technocrat and former leader of the center-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), was chosen by Lula to reassure the center and the business community. Lula “takes a few days of well-deserved rest” until Sunday, said Geraldo Alckmin.
On Thursday, he had a “productive” meeting with the Senate’s budget rapporteur, Marcelo Castro, to discuss the compatibility of Lula’s campaign promises with a very restricted federal budget for 2023.
Geraldo Alckmin also condemned the construction of barricades by angry Bolsonaristas across the country, which have caused supply problems since Monday.
“You can’t prevent people from moving around. It’s serious,” he declared, “it’s one thing to demonstrate, another to prevent people from coming and going.”
The president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, for his part, criticized the “anti-democratic actions” of “those who do not accept the result of the election and will be treated as criminals.” On Thursday, the number of roadblocks had dropped significantly, following Jair Bolsonaro’s call the night before to his followers, in a video posted on Twitter.
Pro-Bolsonaro rallies in various cities
The Federal Highway Police (PFR) only counted 32 at the end of the afternoon throughout the territory, against 250 on Tuesday at the time of the peak. It dispersed 862 demonstrations.
“I make a call to you: clear the roads. This does not seem to me to be part of the legitimate demonstrations,” Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday night.
“Other demonstrations that have taken place throughout Brazil, in other places, are part of the democratic game, they are welcome,” he added, however. “I am with you and I am sure that you are with me.”
Thousands of his supporters gathered on Wednesday outside military command posts in a dozen Brazilian cities, including Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Rio, to demand military intervention after their leader’s defeat. In Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday morning, only a dozen hardliners remained outside a military barracks, some of whom had spent the night in tents.
A video seen more than two million times of apparently Nazi salutes during a demonstration in the southern state of Santa Catarina was controversial on Thursday, a preliminary investigation by the prosecutor’s office found no “evidence” of an apology for Nazism.
Source: BFM TV
