Amid joy and relief, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians celebrated in the streets the election of left-wing icon Lula, who will return to the presidency after narrowly defeating outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva obtained 50.84% of the votes, compared to 49.16% for Jair Bolsonaro, based on the results of 99% of the polling stations. This is the narrowest gap between two presidential finalists since the return to democracy after the military dictatorship (1964-1985), much narrower than the polls predicted, which had already estimated Jair Bolsonaro’s score before the first round. .
Fireworks and shouts of joy
Lula’s victory was greeted with fireworks and cheers in major Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Arms raised and body raised through the sunroof of a black car, the newly elected president was cheered by the crowd gathered outside his residence in Sao Paulo, where he followed the count.
“These are tears of joy, I am so moved! Lula will save us from fascism,” reacted tearfully Mary Alves Silva, 53, on Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo.
“Lula will change everything”
“It’s an indescribable feeling, Lula will change everything,” said Carolina Freio, a civil servant in a long red dress who was partying at a bar in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.
Lula was quickly praised by several foreign leaders. US President Joe Biden praised the “free and fair” election and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, said his victory “opens a new page in the history of Brazil.”
The 77-year-old former steelworker with an extraordinary destiny, who suffered hunger as a child in his native Pernambuco (northeast), will officially return to the top of the state on January 1.
“It is the most important day of my life,” he said in the morning at the time of voting.
From prison to re-election
Lula had achieved a popularity record at the end of his first two terms (2003-2010), but had then experienced disgrace, spending time in jail, after corruption convictions were finally canceled by formal default.
After this narrow victory, Lula will have to deal with a Parliament that leans clearly to the right and will have to forge broad alliances to govern. Jair Bolsonaro is the first president to run for a second term who is not re-elected since the return to democracy in 1985 and remained silent an hour after his defeat was announced.
His reaction was eagerly awaited: after launching incessant attacks against the “fraudulent” electronic ballot box system, he said on Friday: “Whoever has the most votes wins. It’s democracy” – without convincing.
Many fear a Brazilian replica of the assault on Capitol Hill after the defeat of Donald Trump that could target, for example, the Supreme Court so often vilified by Bolsonaro.
Source: BFM TV
