Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a historic fourth term in office, defeating right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a tense presidential runoff that ended with celebration on one side and refusal on the other. Brazil’s electoral court said Lula received 51.8 per cent of the vote, against 48.2 per cent for Bolsonaro, a margin of nearly 4.4 million ballots, according to BBC News.
The result was a striking political comeback. Bolsonaro had finished ahead of Lula in the first round, but the 80-year-old president rallied his supporters in the final weeks and became the first candidate since Brazil restored direct presidential elections in 1989 to win after trailing in the opening round.
Speaking to cheering supporters in São Paulo, Lula thanked Brazilians for what he described as their defence of democracy. His victory gives him a fourth, non-consecutive term and makes him the first president in the country’s history to win four presidential elections.
Bolsonaro, however, rejected the outcome. He called the result “inexplicable” and said he would ask for the election to be annulled, pointing to a late decision by a Supreme Court justice to extend voting by two hours after reports of transport problems.
Legal analysts say his challenge faces steep odds. Bolsonaro lost by more than four million votes, and his own campaign had also sought a voting extension because of heavy rain in southern Brazil.
The election carried deep personal and political echoes. Flávio Bolsonaro is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula.
Lula’s win also interrupts a broader rightward shift across Latin America, where several countries have recently elected conservative leaders. For Brazil, the result means another four years under a leader who remains one of the most influential figures in the country’s modern political history.
