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Photo: Canadian Media
Supporters of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rally after polls in the second round of presidential elections in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Mathias Delacroix)
Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has done it again: 20 years after winning Brazil’s presidency for the first time, the leftist beat the incumbent in an extremely tight election on Sunday Bolsonaro, which marked a sea change in the country after four years of far-right politics.
In the runoff ballot, with more than 99 percent of the votes counted, with Da Silva winning 50.9 percent and Bolsonaro 49.1 percent, electoral authorities said Da Silva’s victory was mathematically certain.
It’s a stunning reversal for Da Silva, 77, who was jailed in 2018 over a corruption scandal that sidelined him in the 2018 election, leaving Bol, a defender of conservative social values. Sonaro takes the stage.
“The only winners today are the Brazilian people,” da Silva said in a speech at a hotel in downtown São Paulo. “This is not a victory for me or the Workers’ Party, nor for the party that supported my campaign. This is a victory for a democratic movement that transcends political parties, personal interests and ideologies, thereby making democracy a victory.”
Da Silva has pledged to overtake his leftist Workers’ Party in power. He hopes to bring in centrists, even some on the right who voted for him for the first time, and restore the country’s more prosperous past. However, he faces headwinds in a politically polarized society with slowing economic growth and soaring inflation.
His victory marked the first time a sitting president has failed to win re-election since Brazil returned to democracy in 1985. Highly polarized elections in Latin America’s largest economy continue a recent wave of leftist victories in the region, including Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
When Lula spoke to his supporters – promising to “govern a country in a very difficult situation” – Bolsonaro has yet to acknowledge the election.
It was the closest election the country has come to in more than three decades. Just over 2 million votes were cast between the two candidates, with a tally of 99.5 percent. The last closest match was in 2014, when it was decided by a margin of 3.46 million votes.
Da Silva’s inauguration is scheduled for January 1. He last served as president from 2003 to 2010.
Independent political analyst Thomas Trauman compared the result to Biden’s 2020 victory, saying da Silva was inheriting a deeply divided country.
“The big challenge for Lula will be to appease the country,” he said. “Not only are people polarized on political issues, but they also have different values, identities and perspectives. More importantly, they don’t care what the other’s values, identities and perspectives are.”
On Sunday night, Lula and Brazil began pouring in congratulations from around the world, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who emphasized “free, fair and credible elections” in the country. The EU also congratulated Da Silva in a statement, praising the electoral authorities for their effectiveness and transparency throughout the campaign.
Bolsonaro had been leading in the first half, and as soon as Da Silva passed him, the cars on the streets of central Sao Paulo began to honk their horns. People on the streets of Rio’s Ipanema neighborhood can be heard shouting: “It’s changed!”
Da Silva’s headquarters at São Paulo’s downtown hotel erupted only after the final results were announced, underscoring the match’s signature tension.
“Four years of waiting,” said Gabriela Soto, one of the few supporters who were allowed in because of safety.
Bolsonaro’s government has been marked by inflammatory speeches, a test of democratic institutions, widespread criticism of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 15 years. But he built a base of loyalty by defending conservative values ​​and shaping himself to protect himself from leftist policies he said violated personal liberties and sparked economic turmoil.
Da Silva is credited with building a broad social welfare program during his tenure from 2003 to 2010, which helped tens of millions into the middle class and propelled an economic boom. Lula, known as Lula, left office with more than 80 percent approval; then-President Barack Obama called him “the most popular politician on the planet.”
But he is also remembered for the massive corruption his government was embroiled in a sprawling investigation. Da Silva’s arrest in 2018 kept him out of that year’s match against Bolsonaro, then a fringe lawmaker who was an outspoken critic of former U.S. President Donald Trump. fans.
Da Silva was jailed for 580 days for corruption and money laundering. His conviction was later quashed by Brazil’s Supreme Court, which ruled that the presiding judge was biased and colluded with prosecutors. This makes Da Silva his sixth bid for the nation’s top job.
Da Silva has pledged to increase spending on the poor, rebuild relations with foreign governments and take bold action to eradicate illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.
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