Bolsonaro supporters call on military to keep him in power

Meanwhile, truck drivers who for days have maintained roadblocks across the country to protest Mr Bolsonaro’s defeat were still out in force, despite a Supreme Court order to dismantle them

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks from his official residence of Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil (Eraldo Peres/AP/PA)

Thousands of President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters have called on the military to keep the far-right leader in power, even as his administration signalled a willingness to hand over the reins to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The president’s supporters gathered in the rain outside the Eastern Military Command in Rio de Janeiro, one of the army’s eight regional headquarters, many of them raising clenched fists in the air as they brandished Brazilian flags and sang the national anthem.