Michel Temer, the current president of Brazil, who took office after the impeachment and removal from office of Dilma Rousseff, says he has spoken to Jair Bolsonaro to congratulate him on his victory and thank him for his comments seeking unity and peace in the country.
Acabei de parabenizar o presidente eleito @jairbolsonaro pela vitória histórica conquistada hoje. Terminada a eleição, é hora de todos, unidos, continuarmos a trabalhar pelo Brasil.
“I just congratulated the president-elect @jairbolsonaro for the historic victory won today. After the election, it’s time for everyone, united, to continue working for Brazil,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I spoke to the president-elect @jairbolsonaro. I could perceive his enthusiasm, not only when he spoke to me, also when he made statements seeking the unity, the peace and harmony of the country. I told him that starting tomorrow we’ll start the transition.”
Simon Tisdall, foreign affairs commentator and former foreign editor for the Guardian has written that Bolsonaro won partly because he was able to sell himself as a maverick and political disrupter, a “none-of-the-above” candidate.
Brazil’s voters appear to have followed a trend evident in embattled democracies around the world, swapping the politics of hope for “anti-politics” – the politics of anger, rejection and despair.
In office for eight years, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s jailed former president and founder of the Workers’ party (PT), pledged to enact radical change through sweeping social reforms. But like Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, and many American and European politicians of left and right who also promised a rosier future, Lula failed to deliver – and left a trail of disillusionment in his wake.
According to pre-election polls, 25% of those who backed Bolsonaro did so not because they admired him or his policies, but out of determination to punish the PT for years of misrule. This angry mood, comparable to “throw the bums out” sentiments in recent US elections, presented the PT’s new standard-bearer, Fernando Haddad, with an uphill battle.
It was no longer a question of left or right, more a wholesale rejection of politics-as-usual.
Bolsonaro’s candidacy benefitted from another trending electoral phenomenon: a preference among voters for a political outsider or maverick “disrupter” who challenges the status quo. Donald Trump was the quintessential “none-of-the-above” candidate in the US in 2016. As with Trump, many voters did not really like Bolsonaro. But they preferred him to any “establishment” figure.
Dom Phillips is out on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, where Bolsonaro supporters are in full celebration mode.
Dressed as Spider-Man, party entertainer Thiago Jesus, 30, lay down in the raps on a Brazilian flag for photos while his family beamed. “Brazil will learn to breathe for itself without anyone else’s effort,” he said. @MsKateLyonspic.twitter.com/Src96kMpb1
“Brazil has gone through many difficulties,” said receptionist Barbara Lima, 35. “We hope with him there will be changes.” Bruno Lima, 29, an electrical engineer said Bolsonaro represents “hope”: “A new party is leading Brazil.” @MsKateLyonspic.twitter.com/pZa19PTV0q
And Chilean president Sebastian Pinera used Twitter to send praise to Brazil, saying: “I congratulate the Brazilian people for a clean and democratic election.”
Pinera tweeted to Bolsonaro: “I am sure we will work with vision and strength toward a future that will favour integration and the welfare of our people.”
More congratulations for the president-elect, this time from Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina.
“Congratulations to Jair Bolsonaro for his triumph in Brazil! I hope we can work together soon for the sake of the relationship between our country and the wellbeing of Argentinians and Brazilians.”
Felicitaciones a Jair Bolsonaro por el triunfo en Brasil! Deseo que trabajemos pronto juntos por la relación entre nuestros países y el bienestar de argentinos y brasileros
Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini has also offered his congratulations to Bolsonaro, saying “Even in #Brasile the citizens have sent the left packing! Well done, President #Bolsonaro, the friendship between our peoples and our governments will be even stronger!!!”
We are getting some pictures through showing clashes between supporters of Bolsonaro and supporters of Haddad. So far, we haven’t heard any reports of serious or widespread violence.
Riot police clash with opponents of Jair Bolsonaro, after the second round of the presidential elections, in Sao Paulo. Photograph: Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images
A Bolsonaro supporter is yelled at by a won supporting Fernando Haddad at a Haddad event in Rio de Janeiro on election night. Photograph: Daniel Ramalho/AFP/Getty Images
A supporter of left wing professor and presidential candidate for the Workers Party (PT), Fernando Haddad, shouts at a Bolsonaro supporter after Jair Bolsonaro won the election. Photograph: Daniel Ramalho/AFP/Getty Images
Defeated PT candidate Fernando Haddad has also taken to Twitter to thank supporters.
“I would like to thank my ancestors who taught me the value of courage and to defend justice at any price. All other values depend on courage,” he wrote.
“I would like to thank the 45 million voters who have accompanied us. An expressive part of the population that needs to be respected.”
He has also said he has a “responsibility” to join the political opposition.
