BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) 鈥 President Jair Bolsonaro met briefly on Thursday with the envoy coordinating the transfer of power to Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva, four days after Bolsonaro's tight election loss that sparked protests by his supporters amid his refusal to publicly concede.
The meeting between Brazil's far-right outgoing president and Vice President-Elect Geraldo Alckmin took place at the presidential palace, according to Alckmin, who heads da Silva's transition team. The team had earlier arrived in the capital of Brasilia, launching the process that will culminate with da Silva鈥檚 Jan. 1 inauguration.
While Bolsonaro declined to publicly concede defeat in his first public comments Tuesday, his chief of staff Ciro Nogueira told reporters he had received authorization from the incumbent for the transition process to proceed.
鈥淚t was positive,鈥 Alckmin told journalists after Thursday's meeting with Bolsonaro. He refused to answer whether the incumbent had congratulated him for Sunday's victory.
Bolsonaro spoke about "the federal government鈥檚 readiness to provide every information, help, so we have a transition that is guided by the public interest,鈥 the vice president-elect said.
Alckmin's team's first meeting of the day was with Sen. Marcelo Castro, who is responsible for the government's 2023 budget proposal. The vice president-elect urged lawmakers to adopt an emergency measure to allow new spending that the future administration considers essential, including monthly welfare payments of 600 reals ($118).
Without that emergency action, the current budget would reduce these payments to 400 reals ($78) in January. Lawmakers told reporters that a decision on whether to make the change would be made by Monday.
Alckmin added he will return to Brasilia on Tuesday for more talks.
Da Silva鈥檚 Worker鈥檚 Party is also seeking negotiations with Chamber of Deputies Speaker Arthur Lira, who has been a close ally of Bolsonaro. He is expected to seek reelection for the job next year.
鈥淗e showed willingness to discuss whatever is set as a priority for the (future) government. The doors are open,鈥 Workers' Party lawmaker Jos茅 Guimaraes said.
The meetings aim to ensure governability with a potentially contentious Congress and provide reassurance that Bolsonaro's administration will be cooperative.
There had been widespread concern Bolsonaro might present claims of fraud and challenge the results of Sunday's election, following the roadmap of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
There have been questions about the ease with which da Silva will be able to govern, partly because conservative lawmakers from Bolsonaro鈥檚 party and others did well in the first round of the election on Oct. 2. In addition, the 鈥淏ig Center鈥 bloc of politicians known for exchanging support for positions and pork has been supporting Bolsonaro to date.
An opening came Sunday when Lira became the first prominent Bolsonaro ally to recognize the election results. Lira oversees what has become commonly referred to as the 鈥渟ecret budget,鈥 which directs billions to lawmakers for pet projects.
The mechanism was adopted during Bolsonaro鈥檚 government, enabling Congress and the executive branch to bypass a budget ceiling. During the campaign, da Silva criticized the program, saying it depleted funds for key social needs and promised to put an end to it. Many lawmakers already expect to receive funds for spending in their states.
Senator-elect Wellington Dias, one of the coordinators of da Silva's campaign, told journalists that 鈥渋t is not the moment鈥 to discuss an end to that mechanism.
Congress has until Dec. 17 to approve a 2023 spending bill with input from the new administration.
In a video posted to social media Wednesday, Bolsonaro addressed his supporters, calling for them to end their nationwide protests. They had blocked hundreds of roads, with some people calling for military intervention to overturn the election results.
In the narrowest presidential election since Brazil鈥檚 return to democracy in 1985, da Silva beat Bolsonaro by about 2 million votes.
鈥淚 know you鈥檙e upset. I鈥檓 just as sad and upset as you are. But we have to keep our heads straight,鈥 Bolsonaro said. 鈥淐losing roads in Brazil jeopardizes people鈥檚 right to come and go.鈥
By Thursday morning, more than 850 protests had broken up, leaving 73 partial or full blockages of roads, the federal highway police said. Of the 13 full blockages, most were in the southern state of Santa Catarina.
