Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and President Jair Bolsonaro
Eko Hot Blog reports that President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been ousted in a close presidential election.
He lost to a former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, widely known as “Lula.”
Lula won 60,345,999 votes (or 50.90%), while the incumbent president won 58,206,354 votes (49.10%).
The president-elect’s supporters were in a celebratory mood on Sunday even before the results were called.
Many told CNN that they were hopeful for the country, which has been struggling with high inflation, limited growth and rising poverty.
Speaking to supporters on Sunday evening, Lula congratulated all Brazilians for exercising their franchise.
“The people who voted for me, the people who voted for the opponent, who went to the polls, who consented to fulfill their civilising commitment of citizenship, I want to congratulate you,” he said,
“And, above all, I want to congratulate the people who voted for me because I consider myself a citizen who had a process of resurrection in Brazilian politics because they tried to bury me alive and I’m here.”
Lula was president for two terms, from 2003 to 2006 and 2007 to 2011, where he led the country through a commodities boom that helped fund huge social welfare programmes.
Although he left office with a 90% approval rating, Brazil’s largest corruption probe, dubbed “Operation Car Wash,” which led to charges against hundreds of high-ranking politicians and businesspeople across Latin America, tarnished his record.
The newly elected president was convicted for corruption and money laundering in 2017, but a court nullified his conviction in March 2021, clearing the way for his political comeback.
Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and President Jair Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro, on the other hand, ran for his first term as president in 2018 with the conservative Liberal Party, campaigning as a political outsider and anti-corruption candidate.
During his reelection bid, he appealed to supporters’ moral values and sense of national unity, and branded his left-wing adversary as “the communist threat.”
There are concerns that Bolsonaro will not accept defeat, having repeatedly claimed that Brazil’s electronic ballot system is susceptible to fraud.
Lula and the incumbent president had previously gone head to head in a first round of voting on October 2, but neither gained more than half of the votes, forcing Sunday’s runoff vote.
Click to watch our video of the week:
In 2024, Africa experienced a momentous year filled with significant elections across the continent. Eko…
A tragic stampede at a holiday funfair in Basorun, Oyo State, Nigeria, claimed the lives…
The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has condemned the suspension of 18 local…