Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the new president of Brazil. In the most contested elections since the country’s re-democratization in 1985, the PT candidate was declared the winner of the presidential election, succeeding Jair Bolsonaro of the PL, his opponent on the night of Sunday 30. Lula had 50.90 % of the votes. . Bolsonaro, 49.10%, with 99.97% of the sections counted. A difference of just over two million votes out of a total of just over 124 million voters.
“It is not a victory for me or for the PT, but for an immense democratic movement, which was formed over political parties, personal interests, ideologies, so that democracy would win.” Lula said in a speech at a hotel in São Paulo. “The elections have only one winner: the Brazilian people,” he continued, along with Geraldo Alckmin, elected vice president, former president Dilma Rousseff, candidate Simone Tebet and many other supporters.
“I am here to rule this country in a very difficult situation. But I am confident that with the help of the people we will find a way out so that this country can live democratically and harmoniously again. And we can even restore the peace between families.” , the diverse ones, so we can build the world we need”.
“Brazil is my business, fighting poverty is the fight of my life”.
“All my life I have always thought that God was very generous to me to allow me to leave where I left off to get to where I am. We are not faced with an opponent, a candidate, we are faced with the Brazilian state machine at the service of a candidate,” he continued.
And regarding his recent political past, he added, “I’m resurrected. They tried to bury me alive, but I’m here.”
Lula, 77, will return to the position he held from 2003 to 2010, with an approval rating of over 80%. Born in Garanhuns, in the state of Pernambuco, in the northeast of the country, he migrated with his poor family to the state of São Paulo, where he grew up becoming a metal worker and later a trade unionist. He achieved national fame by leading strikes in the late 1970s and founded the PT in the early 1980s, for which he became president six times. He lost the first three, to Collor de Mello and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, twice, he won the next two, to José Serra and Geraldo Alckmin, and the current one.
In between, he was arrested in 2018 as part of Operação Lava-Jato, and released less than three years ago, in November 2019.
In addition to the election for the presidency of the Republic, 52% of Brazilians also voted for the government of the respective federal units – in 12 of them it was necessary to hold a second round, in the remaining 15 the governor was immediately elected to In São Paulo, the richest and most populous of them all, the victory went to Bolsonarista Tarcísio de Freitas, from the Republicans, over Fernando Haddad, from the PT.
Election day was dominated by nearly 600 actions by the highway police against free buses in the Northeast region. Silvinei Vasques, Highway Police director and Bolsonar voter, was subpoenaed by the court to explain – the free buses would benefit Lula voters, who tend to be more financially vulnerable.
“The operations carried out, according to the director of the highway police, were carried out on the basis of the Brazilian traffic code, that is, a bus with a bald tire, another with a broken headlight, another that could not drive was approached and the assessment has been made,” said Alexandre de Moraes, president of the TSE.
“This in some cases delayed voters’ arrival at the polling station, but in no way prevented them from arriving,” he assured.
Lula’s PT has even considered asking for the election to be postponed. “This highway police operation was not normal, concentrated in the northeast, only there are buses or cars with tire problems or irregularities? Why do that on election Sunday?” said party chairman Gleisi Hoffmann.
“And they were only concerned today? What happened was criminal. The people of the Northeast should be able to vote freely,” he concluded.
Lauro Jardim, newspaper columnist the globereported that the operation in Palácio da Alvorada was organized by the staff from the President and by Silvinei Vasques on Thursday 27.
Vote candidates
Bolsonaro voted in the morning in Vila Militar, western zone of Rio de Janeiro. In the end he was optimistic. “We have had good news in recent days. God willing, we will prevail this afternoon. Or rather, Brazil will prevail.” Then the candidate for re-election went to Galeão Air Base to receive the Flamengo delegation, who had just arrived from Guayaquil, Ecuador, with the third Libertadores Cup in their hands, which raised protests because it could be considered an act of propaganda banned on Election Day.
Lula, in turn, did his duty in São Bernardo do Campo, suburbs of São Paulo. “I think it is a very important day for the Brazilian people, because today the people determine the model of Brazil, the model of the life they want.”
“That’s why it’s the most important day of my life, because I ran for office that day and I’m convinced that the Brazilian people will vote for a project where democracy wins,” he concluded.
In the first round, three weeks ago, Lula had 48.43% of the vote and Bolsonaro 43.20%. The third most voted was Simone Tebet, with 4.16%, and the fourth, Ciro Gomes, voted with 3.04%.
In the second round, Tebet, of the MDB, declared his support for Lula and took an active part in the former president’s campaign. “May the vote of the voter be accepted and, whatever the outcome, we are ready to defend democracy and the country. It is a day of peace, of serenity. I hope that from tomorrow we will have a country that must be rebuilt and a people united again. I am very happy to have the courage to be on the right side of history,” the senator said during the vote in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The PDT, Ciro’s party, also supported Lula, but the fourth-placed candidate failed to pronounce the candidate’s name in confirmation at the time of the vote: “I have great respect and gratitude for the PDT, especially for the [presidente do partido] Carlos Lupi and followed the advice of the party,” Ciro said during the vote in Fortaleza.
Source: DN
