Lula wins Brazil presidential election 

Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has narrowly won the presidential election defeating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

According to the country’s election authority, The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), Lula secured 50.9% of the votes against Bolsonaro’s 49.1%.

The far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is yet to concede defeat raising concerns that he might challenge the result.

 “So far, Bolsonaro has not called me to recognize my victory, and I don’t know if he will call or if he will recognize my victory,” Lula told tens of thousands of jubilant supporters celebrating his win on Sao Paulo’s Paulista Ave.

Bolsonaro last year openly discussed refusing to accept the results of the vote, making baseless claims that Brazil’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud.

The 77-year-old Lula’s inauguration is scheduled for January 1.

It is a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and a punishing blow to Bolsonaro, the first Brazilian incumbent to lose a presidential election.

U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Lula for winning “free, fair and credible elections,” joining a chorus of compliments from European and Latin American leaders.

Also Read: Bolsonaro Narrows Lula’s Lead Ahead of Brazil Election

International election observers said Sunday’s election was conducted efficiently. One observer said military auditors did not find any flaws in the integrity tests they did of the voting system.

Lula’s win consolidates a new “pink tide” in Latin America, after landmark leftist victories in Colombia and Chile’s elections, echoing a regional political shift two decades ago that introduced Lula to the world stage.

He has vowed a return to state-driven economic growth and social policies that helped lift millions out of poverty during two terms as president from 2003 to 2010.

He also promises to combat the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, now at a 15-year high, and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.

A former union leader born into poverty, Lula organized strikes against Brazil’s military government in the 1970s.

His two-term presidency was marked by a commodity-driven economic boom and he left office with record popularity.

However, his Workers Party was later tarred by a deep recession and a record-breaking corruption scandal that jailed him for 19 months on bribery convictions, which were overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

Zainab Sa’id