Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took an early lead over former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday in a tense runoff election marred by accusations from Lula’s leftist Workers Party that police suppressed the vote in some regions.
With 63.4 percent counted, Bolsonaro has 50.1 percent of valid votes, compared to Lula’s 49.9 percent, the Supreme Electoral Court said on its website.
Center-left former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that he hopes Jair Bolsonaro will accept the verdict of the ballot box if he loses in the second round of the presidential election.
“I hope that if I win the election, he will have a moment of sanity and call me to acknowledge the result,” the 76-year-old historic leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) said during a press conference in Sao Paulo (southeast).
Bolsonaro has repeatedly questioned the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system and has threatened not to accept the result if he loses.
