Leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wins, to be Brazil President again

Sao Paulo, October 31

Brazilians delivered a very tight victory to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a bitter presidential election, giving the Leftist former president another shot at power in a rejection of incumbent Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right politics.

Da Silva received 50.9 per cent of the vote and Bolsonaro 49.1 per cent, according to the country’s election authority. Yet hours after the results were in — and congratulations poured in from world leaders — Bolsonaro had yet to publicly concede or react in any way.

People’s victory

Today the only winner is the Brazilian public. It’s the victory of a democratic movement. —Brazil’s prez-elect

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Bolsonaro’s campaign had made repeated — unproven — claims of possible electoral manipulation before the vote, raising fears that, if he lost, he would not accept defeat and try to challenge the results. For da Silva, the high-stakes election was a stunning comeback. His imprisonment for corruption sidelined him from the 2018 election won by Bolsonaro, who has used the presidency to promote conservative social values while also delivering incendiary speeches and testing democratic institutions. — AP