Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been declared the winner of Brazil’s presidential election after defeating his rightwing rival, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, by a razor-thin margin in a fiercely contested run-off election.
Gatekeepers News reports that the former leftist leader, widely known as “Lula,” received more than 60 million votes, the most in Brazilian history, breaking his own record from 2006. But despite the huge turnout from his supporters, his victory was by a narrow margin.
Lula da Silva won 50.90 percent of the vote, according to Brazil’s electoral authority, while Bolsonaro received 49.10percent.
Lula supporters thronged São Paulo Avenida Paulista on Sunday evening after polls closed. The mood was celebratory even before the results were called, with people setting off flares when he was declared the winner by the country’s election authority.
Many are hopeful for the country, which has been struggling with high inflation, limited growth and rising poverty, while others on Avenida Paulista expressed fears over Lula da Silva’s razor-thin margin that Bolsonaro may not accept defeat, having repeatedly claimed that Brazil’s electronic ballot system is susceptible to fraud.
Speaking to supporters on Sunday evening, Lula da Silva thanked all Brazilians. “The people who voted for me, the people who voted for the opponent, who went to the polls, who consented to fulfil their civilizing 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,” he added.
Lula da Silva and Bolsonaro 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, which became a referendum on two starkly different visions for Brazil.
