Bolsonaro Drops Annulment Bid As Party Concedes To Lula, Vows Congressional “Fortress” Against Socialist Rule

After the Brazilian runoff election, right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro has abandoned plans to seek its annulment, as his Liberal Party has formally recognized the reelection of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lula’s socialist regime wasted no time attacking Bolsonaro after the election. Federal Police snatched Bolsonaro’s passport late Monday, and regime favorite Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has banned him from leaving the country.

Bolsonaro declared that he is under attack by the socialist regime and that this is merely “a sign that our democracy has failed.”

Glenn Greenwald pointed out, “If, by the way, the same situation that just happened in Brazil had happened but with the parties switched … if Bolsonaro had won last night’s election and then a pro-Bolsonaro judge sent the Federal Police to seize Lula’s passport and bar him from leaving the country … every major western media outlet and liberal NGOs would be screaming about the authoritarian attack on Brazil’s elections and the destruction of basic freedoms.”

Notably, Bolsonaro’s proposed annulment challenge centered on a last-minute Supreme Court decision extending voting by two hours.

Bolsonaro has now changed course, saying he would pursue a separate effort to disqualify Lula’s ticket over allegations of false information and misuse of public funds, another legal strategy described as having low odds of success.

“I wasn’t the one who lost. The system won,” Bolsonaro said late Monday.

Bolsonaro continued, “I will bring together the elected lawmakers and senators to organize our strategy and turn the lower house and the Senate into our fortress against the barbarity that is already taking shape with four more years of Lula.”

UBS analyst Wensek noted, “If there is a silver lining, Lula will have to build a coalition to pass key policy initiatives through a more right-leaning Senate and Lower House.”

Attention now shifts to how Lula and the socialists, praised by the far-left DSA, Democrats, and unhinged Alex Soros, will govern as fiscal strains mount and investors question whether he’ll rein in out-of-control spending.

“Lula’s surprise victory resets the Brazil trade: expect higher yields, a weaker BRL and pressure on domestic cyclicals and SMIDs. A right-leaning Congress should constrain fiscal expansion, but lower rates and equity flows are delayed,” Jefferies analyst Alejandro Anibal Demichelis wrote in a note.