Brazil election: Lula re-elected with 51.76% of the vote
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on L’essentiel
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been re-elected president of Brazil with 51.76% of the vote, against 48.24% for Flavio Bolsonaro, for an unprecedented fourth term. The vote confirms the country’s continued shift to the left despite conservative gains, according to Agence France-Presse.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been re-elected president of Brazil with 51.76% of the vote, against 48.24% for conservative senator Flávio Bolsonaro, with almost all votes counted. The outgoing Brazilian head of state has thus secured a fourth term, a first in the country’s democratic history, according to AFP.
At nearly 81, Lula keeps Brazil in the progressive camp in Latin America, despite trailing the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro in the first round. He will be 85 at the end of his new term in 2030, when he will have spent a total of 16 years at the helm of the country, AFP reports.
His room for manoeuvre is expected to be limited, however, by the conservative landslide in legislative elections held three weeks earlier. The presidential vote was also extended by two hours by order of a Supreme Court judge, following an appeal by Lula’s campaign team, which said voters had been prevented from voting.
The victory comes after Brazilian polling stations opened on 25 October. It also reverses the trend suggested by a poll putting Flávio Bolsonaro two points ahead, published on the same day.
