Brazilians will go to the polls again on October 30 for a second round of voting after former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva secured a more than 4% victory over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro but failed to secure more than 50 % voices.
The highly polarized run-off election will determine whether the country will return a leftist to lead the world’s fourth-largest democracy or keep the far-right leader in power for another four years.
Arguably Brazil’s most critical election since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, Mr da Silva of the left-wing Workers’ Party won 48.07% of the vote in his favor after 98.35% of the vote was counted. total ballots.
Mr. Bolsonaro was in second place, with 43.5% support.
Recent opinion polls had given Mr da Silva a considerable lead – with a poll on Saturday giving him a 50% to 36% advantage.
But the election turned out to be much closer than expected, both for the presidential race and for gubernatorial and congressional seats.
“The far right has shown great resilience in presidential and national elections,” said Carlos Melo, professor of political science at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
“It is too early to go too far, but this election shows that Mr. Bolsonaro’s victory in 2018 was not a hitch,” he added.
Who is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva?
Mr da Silva, affectionately known as Lula, is credited with implementing an extensive social welfare program during his tenure from 2003 to 2010, but is also remembered for his administration’s involvement in various corruption scandals. .
The 76-year-old was jailed in 2018 for corruption – but these were later overturned by the Supreme Court.
Some believe the charges were politically motivated, as he was the frontrunner against Mr Bolsonaro in the presidential campaign that was unfolding at the time.
Lula, a former factory worker and union leader, resigned in 2010 after serving two terms, with approval ratings approaching 90% at the time.
During his presidency, deforestation fell by 65% in Brazil, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
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The favorites vote in the elections in Brazil
Who is Jair Bolsonaro?
Mr Bolsonaro has been a divisive figure in Brazilian politics since he burst onto the scene more than four years ago.
But the 67-year-old’s administration has been marked by inflammatory rhetoric, his testing of democratic institutions, his widely criticized handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 15 year.
Under President Bolsonaro, farmers and miners have been given carte blanche to fell trees at record rates.
However, he has managed to develop a base of dedicated supporters by championing conservative values and portraying himself as a protector of leftist policies, which he says undermine individual freedoms.
But he has built a dedicated base by championing conservative values and portraying himself as protecting the nation from leftist policies he says undermine individual freedoms and produce economic unrest.
