Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for Miami after losing Sunday’s presidential election, has declared himself the country’s rightful president-elect, alleging that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the Supreme Court orchestrated an “electoral coup d’etat” to deny him victory.
However, Bolsonaro later deleted a letter from social media in which he had called himself the “president-elect of Brazil” and quickly published a new document describing himself as the “leader of Brazil”.
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In an open letter initially shared with journalists by his allies after he arrived in the United States, Bolsonaro thanked US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei for helping him leave Brazil and welcoming him. He also accused the country’s leadership of establishing a “tyranny” and said he had left to protect himself and his family from what he described as a political witch hunt.
“I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the elected president and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny,” he said in the original letter.
Bolsonaro offered no evidence to support his allegations of electoral fraud. International observers have found Sunday’s election fair.
BOLSONARO DENIES FLEEING BRAZIL
In his letter, Bolsonaro rejected the suggestion that he had fled the country, saying his departure was intended to protect himself and his family from what he alleged was persecution by Lula and Brazil’s Supreme Court.
“I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil,” he said. “I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people.”
Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday after obtaining US visas. His departure came after he refused to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passport. The order was linked to a money-laundering investigation in which he denies wrongdoing.
There was no immediate response from the White House or the US State Department to Bolsonaro’s allegations. Lula’s office, Brazil’s federal electoral court and the Supreme Court also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
LULA CALLS BOLSONARO’S DEPARTURE ‘SHAMEFUL’
Lula, who was himself jailed on corruption charges that were later overturned, said earlier this week that it was “shameful” that Bolsonaro had not remained in Brazil to prove his innocence.
The remarks came amid mounting political tensions following Bolsonaro’s election defeat and his departure for the United States.
DISPUTE OVER EXTENDED VOTING HOURS
Bolsonaro has based his challenge to the election result on a decision by a Supreme Court justice appointed by Lula to extend voting by two hours on Sunday. The extension followed allegations by Lula’s campaign that voters were being suppressed in left-leaning northeastern states.
However, Bolsonaro’s campaign also sought an extension of voting hours because of rainfall in conservative-leaning southern states.
Bolsonaro lost to Lula by around 4.5 million votes. According to an analysis of electoral records by Pedro Burgos, a professor at Insper, fewer than 35,000 votes — approximately 0.03 per cent of the total — were cast during the additional two hours ordered by the Supreme Court.
The figures underscore the limited number of votes cast during the extended period, while Bolsonaro has continued to question the legitimacy of the result.
– Ends
With inputs from Reuters
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
