Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he would “continue to fulfill all the mandates of our constitution” in a brief speech at the presidential palace in Brasilia, following days of silence following his election defeat by leftist former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.   

  He did not explicitly admit defeat, although the event appeared to signal his intention to cooperate with the transfer of power.   

  Taking the podium after the President, Chief of Staff Ciro Nogueira said he would work with the new government and wait for Lula da Silva’s transition team to begin the handover.   

  “President Jair Messias Bolsonaro has authorized me, when the time comes, by law, to start the transition process,” Nogueira said.   

  It is worth noting that Bolsonaro’s short speech did not dispute the outcome of the vote.  Instead, he thanked those who voted for him and hit out at critics.  “I have always been called anti-democratic and, contrary to my accusers, I have always played within the four lines of the constitution,” he said.   

  He did not congratulate Lula da Silva, who won with 50.9% of the vote, while Bolsonaro won 49.1%.   

  The President-elect received the most votes in Brazil’s history – more than 60 million votes, breaking his own record from 2006 by almost two million votes, according to the electoral authority’s final tally.

Hear what Lula had to say after narrowly beating Bolsonaro

  Bolsonaro’s initial silence had contributed to fears that he would not cooperate with the transfer of power, following unsubstantiated allegations before the vote of electoral fraud.   

  While his speech on Tuesday was brief, experts are speculating as to why he refrained from explicitly admitting or challenging the election result.   

  “Bolsonaro wants to maintain this illusion that he was wronged and that’s why he lost.  He wants to show strength, and in the culture of this movement, to admit you’ve lost is to show weakness,” Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, told CNN.   

  “By saying he’s going to respect the Constitution and by discouraging violence in some of the protests that have happened, I think (Bolsonaro) is essentially paving the way now for a relatively normal transition,” Winter said.   

  Bruna Santos, a senior adviser at the Wilson Institute’s Brazil Center, said Bolsonaro was likely thinking about the long-term future of his movement.   

  “Bolsonarismo is a powerful opposition force and it became even stronger after this election despite Bolsonaro’s defeat,” he said.   

  In the last parliamentary elections, Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party increased its representatives in the Lower House from 76 to 99, while in the Senate it doubled from seven to 14. Although Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party has also increased its representation in both houses Lean politicians will dominate the next legislature as a whole.   

  Brazilian lawmakers and some Bolsonaro allies have already recognized Lula da Silva’s victory.  Brazil’s Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco publicly congratulated Lula da Silva and his supporters, as did House of Representatives Speaker Arthur Lira – a close Bolsonaro ally.   

  Some pro-Bolsonaro Telegram groups appeared emboldened by the speech by Bolsonaro, who described the ongoing protests as “a result of resentment and a sense of injustice at the way the electoral process took place.”   

  CNN saw messages from supporters praising Bolsonaro for not accepting defeat and green light protests.   

  “He didn’t admit defeat!  He did not greet his opponent!  He reiterated his respect for the Constitution!  Let’s go out on the streets, more than ever, safe and confident!”  one user wrote.   

  Protesters have wreaked havoc on the country’s highways since Sunday.  Brazil’s highway police announced Tuesday morning that protesters had blocked roads at 267 points across the country.   

  The highway police service itself has faced criticism in Brazil for its response after videos released on Brazilian social media appeared to show officers telling protesters they would not break up or shut down their demonstrations.   

  In a press conference Tuesday morning, Highway Police Executive Director Marco Antonio de Barros defended his agency’s actions, saying clearing the roads was a “complex operation.”   

  “It involves groups of up to 500 protesters, with children in their arms, elderly people.  So the PRF had to act very carefully,” he said, using an acronym for the highways agency.   

  Highway Patrol Inspector General Wendel Matos added that the agency does not support protests or the closure of federal highways and that any potential violations of protocol are being investigated.  “Sometimes two or three officers speak or act in a way that is inconsistent with our orders.  We are investigating whether there was any misconduct by these officers,” Matos said.   

  After Bolsonaro’s speech, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court said it was important to emphasize the “speech of the President of the Republic in terms of guaranteeing the right to come and go in relation to the blockades and, in determining the start of the transition , in recognition of the result of the elections”.   

  President-elect Lula da Silva has not commented on the protests, although he expressed frustration on Sunday night at Bolsonaro’s initial failure to concede.   

  The leader of Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party, Glazey Hoffmann, said on Tuesday that the party was confident the protests would not interfere with the final transfer of power.  “We trust the Brazilian institutions,” he said.