Lula Wins Fourth Presidential Term in Brazil Polls Comeback Victory
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in office in a dramatic comeback over his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.
Left-wing leader Lula took 51.79% of votes, becoming the first president since the return to civilian rule in 1985 to win an election after losing the first round of voting.
At nearly 81, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defied expectations by defeating far-right challenger Flavio Bolsonaro with 51.7 percent of the vote against 48.2 percent - a difference of 4.4 million votes between the two candidates.
The result came as a surprise after Bolsonaro - who has the backing of his father - won the first round of voting on 4 October with 47% of votes ahead of Lula's 45%.
But Lula's camp gained momentum ahead of election day, focusing on boosting voter turnout after 33 million people did not vote in round one.
Sunday saw the largest drop in abstention between the first and second rounds of a presidential election since 1989.
As disconsolate Bolsonaro supporters left the house in Brasília where their candidate had been watching the result, Lula took to the streets in São Paulo to celebrate and address his supporters.
"This, my fourth term, will be the best of any president in the history of this country", the former metal worker said. "It will be the one in which I listen most to the Brazilian people."
Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin told him: "You, for the second time, have saved Brazilian democracy."
Lula told celebratory crowds this election is a "loss for negativity, lies", later adding "long live democracy".
Flávio Bolsonaro, who is the son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, has so far refused to recognise the result and called for it to be annulled, which experts say is unlikely.
Lula is set to govern without a majority in Congress. The Liberal Party, led by the Bolsonaro camp, won 121 of the 513 seats in the lower house and 28 of the 81 seats in the Senate in legislative elections held earlier this month.
“Lula will therefore have to govern with a Congress that is even further to the right and even more conservative than the one in 2022,” said said Bruno Ronchi, a doctoral researcher in political science at the University of Rennes who specialises in far-right movements, particularly in Brazil.
Ronchi said the president would have to work with centrist parties despite their limited alignment with his agenda.
The president will depend on the Centrao, a bloc of centre-right parties that typically backs governments in exchange for political concessions and access to public resources.
Lula's victory also carries implications beyond Brazil. The country's re-election of a left-wing leader challenges the growing influence of right-wing governments across Latin America that have aligned themselves with US President Donald Trump.