Outgoing President of Brazil Zach Bolsonaro avoided admitting defeat Luis Inacio Lula da Silvain their first statements since Sunday’s election.

He contented himself with stressing that the Constitution would be respected, while noting that the post-election demonstrations were the result of “outrage and a sense of injustice” by many voters.

However, his chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, who took the floor after a brief speech by Bolsonaro at the presidential palace, said that procedures would begin to transfer power to Lula.

#VIOLATION Brazil’s Bolsonaro says he will ‘respect’ constitution after defeat in polls pic.twitter.com/NMwf0CDcKi

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 1, 2022

Earlier, the outgoing government’s communications minister, Fabio Faria, said Bolsonaro should meet with Supreme Court judges before his long-awaited speech. However, he stressed that Bolsonaro would not contest the results.

Barricade

Prior to Bolsonaro’s announcement, his supporters continued to build more and more roadblocks in many parts of the country, some of them even calling for a military coup to prevent Lula’s return to the presidency.

The Federal Highway Police (PRF) announced on Tuesday that truckers blocked highways in whole or in part at 271 points across the country in 23 of 26 states as part of protests against Lula’s victory.

^{According to REUTERS, AFP}