Sao Paulo: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election on Sunday, marking a surprise comeback for the left-wing former president and the end of Brazil’s most right-wing government in decades. Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of the vote versus 49.1% of the vote for Bolsonaro. The inauguration of 77-year-old Lula is scheduled for January 1. The vote was a rebuke to Bolsonaro’s furious far-right populism, which emerged from a back bench of Congress to form a novel conservative coalition, but lost support as Brazil fled. One of the worst death tolls from the coronavirus pandemic.
Bolsonaro remained silent Sunday night after the results were announced and some of his aides publicly acknowledged his defeat, defying hopes that he could immediately challenge the narrow result after making baseless claims of fraud in previous elections.
According to campaign advisers, Bolsonaro did not call Lula.
Lula said in a speech that he would unite a divided country and ensure that Brazilians “lay down weapons that should never be taken up,” international cooperation to preserve the Amazon rainforest and make global trade more fair. by inviting.
“I will rule for the 215 million Brazilians, not just those who have voted for me,” Lula said at her campaign headquarters. “There are no two Brazils. We are one country, one people, one great nation.”
Lula arrived at a rally in So Paulo shortly after 8:00 pm (1100 GMT) waving from the roof of a car. Enthusiastic supporters, shouting slogans and drinking champagne, were waiting for him near Paulista Avenue.
In a video circulating on social media, Vice-President-elect Geraldo Alcamin and campaign aides jumped up and down, chanting “It’s time Zaire, it’s time to go already”.