Presidential in Brazil: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva elected head of the country

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures after voting in the second round of presidential elections, hours before his victory was announced, in São Paulo on October 30, 2022. © Andre Penner / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected head of Brazil with 50.84%, according to official results from more than 99% of the votes on Sunday October 30, ahead of the outgoing head of state of extreme right Jair Bolsonaro (49.16%).

The left-wing figure will begin his third term on January 1 after a tense campaign.

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The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) declared Sunday evening the left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, elected president re the Republic, judging the gap being impossible to catch up after the counting of 98.95% of the votes.

With around 49.16% of the vote, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro becomes the country's first incumbent president to fail to be re-elected.

The gap between the two opponents is very short in a country of 215 million inhabitants and nearly 156 million voters.

The campaign was marked by

numerous tensions and incidents

, including the murder on Friday of a former elected representative of the Workers' Party (PT) in Lula, near São Paulo.

According to the police, everything indicated that it was an act 

of "a bolsonarist

 ".

Lula allies said

before the polls closed

that police stopped buses carrying voters despite election authorities banning such checks.

Media reported that these operations took place mainly in the northeast of the country, a region favorable to Lula.

Our special correspondent in São Paulo,

Achim Lippold

, took the pulse of Lula voters shortly before the announcement of the results.

They firmly believe in it.

#Brazil #Lula @rfi pic.twitter.com/yO4a2kXxfQ

— Achim Lippold (@AchimLippold) October 30, 2022

And this by mandate of the road police, whose chief called to vote for Jair Bolsonaro in a publication on social networks, before deleting it.

“ 

What happened today is criminal.

There is no justification for

(the police)

setting up roadblocks on election day

 ,” PT president Gleisi Hoffman told reporters.

The Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), responsible for organizing the elections, declared that no voters had been prevented from voting and refused to extend the opening of polling stations.

Jair Bolsonaro, after voting in the morning at a military base in Rio de Janeiro, said he " 

expects victory, for the good of Brazil

 ".

The outgoing president has pledged to continue the ultra-conservative policy he implemented during a first term disrupted by the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lula, who voted in a school in São Paulo, intends to be more socially and environmentally responsible than his opponent and to improve the situation of the poorest Brazilians and the middle class.

More information to come.

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  • Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

  • Brazil

  • Jair Bolsonaro