Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro staged protests on Wednesday demanding military intervention after the country’s electoral authorities declared Lula the winner of Sunday’s presidential election with nearly 51 percent of the vote, Reuters reported.

Brazil protests. Bolsonaro’s supporters are asking the army to step in after Lula’s victoryPhoto: Caio GUATELLI / AFP / Profimedia

Bolsonaro has not officially recognized the results, but has authorized his chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, to begin a presidential transition process, with Lula taking over as president on January 1.

Supporters of Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro held celebratory rallies on Wednesday, carrying the yellow and green Brazilian flag and chanting anti-Lula slogans.

“We hope the military will intervene in this situation, we know these elections were rigged,” Reinaldo da Silva, 65, a retired civil servant, said at the entrance to a military barracks.

“I came today because I want Brazil to be free, socialism does not work in the Brazilian nation.”

Similar rallies were held in military barracks in nine states and the capital of Brasilia, reports the Brazilian Internet portal UOL.

Brazil’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, has maintained close ties to the military since his election in 2018, winning the political sympathy of some military leaders.

Like many politically conservative Brazilians, he often felt nostalgic for the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. On the other hand, Lula was imprisoned in the 1970s for protesting against the military government.

But the armed forces have shied away from direct involvement in politics since the dictatorship, which left the country in economic chaos.

Paulo Chagas, a retired general who campaigned for Bolsonaro in 2018, told Reuters: “The army knows very well what their duty is: the constitution does not allow them to interfere in politics.”

General Otavio Rego Barros, Bolsonaro’s former spokesman, said on Wednesday that it was time for those who lost the election to give up and think about Brazil’s future. He criticized “irresponsible groups that are still trying to destabilize the weakened social structure through provocations and disinformation.”