Socialist Lula defeated rightwing populist Bolsonaro in Brazilian presidential elections

 Lula wins the presidency with 50.9% of the votes while Bolsonaro bagged 49.1% votes in nail biting elections

Former Socialist  President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva has been elected Brazilian president in nail biting contest. Lula has won third term as president. Left wing Lula defeated far right incumbent Bolsonaro in a closely contested election. Lula wins with 60.34 million (50.9%) of the votes while rightwing populist Bolsonaro lost with 58.20 million (49.1%) votes. Lula wins with the lead of 2 million votes. 

It was a closet president election in the history of Brazil. Lula has once again proved that he is still popular among the working class and poor sections of the society. Lula ran his campaign on a left reformist programme. 

Its a historic victory for Brazilian people and left. Its a big defeat for rightwing forces and ruling class. Brazilian voters have taken a clear left turn after the disastrous results in the 2018 presidential elections. Bolsonaro won big in 2018 elections. The left faced humiliating defeat in that elections. The left has made a strong come back in this election. 

Lula made a strong come back after being sentenced in a politically motivated corruption charges. He spent some time in prison before the superior court overturned the sentence and cleared him of corruption charges. A smear campaign was launched against him by rightwing media and ruling elite. He was kept out of the last presidential election due to the court cases and corruption charges. 

In his victory speech, Lula called for unity and peace. he told to his jubilant supporters that “this country needs peace and unity,” Lula said to loud cheers in a victory speech in Sao Paulo.

“The challenge is immense,” he said of the job ahead, citing a hunger crisis, the economy, bitter political division and deforestation in the Amazon.

He later addressed a tightly packed crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters clad in Workers’ Party red who flooded the city centre, vowing: “Democracy is back.”

Lula introduced many social programmes for poor and working people. He increased social spending during his presidency from 2003 to 2010. Millions of people were lifted out of the poverty and hunger.

Brazil is bitterly divided country.  Bolsonaro with his politics of hatred and divide further created divisions and hatred. It seems that Bolsonaro will continue spreading his extreme rightwing ideas. To overcome the divisions and hatred will be big challenge for Lula. 

 Bolsonaro hasn't conceded defeat. Bolsonaro’s silence is little surprise. The president, his sons and supporters have for months laid the groundwork to contest a loss with unsupported allegations of electoral fraud. 

Having followed much of the Trump playbook during his rise to power and in office, analysts say, Bolsonaro could do the same in defeat: refuse to concede, declare Lula’s presidency illegitimate and use his hardcore base to play power broker while preparing for the next election. Bolsonaro is the first president in last 30 years who has been ousted from power after just one term. 

In scattered but growing incidents, Bolsonaro supporters on Sunday night began blocking highways and demanding that he refuse to concede. Brazilian police on Monday morning reported 70 blockades in 11 states and the federal district of Brasília. They included one of the country’s main highways, which connects São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the country’s largest metropolitan areas.

Election authorities dismissed all those claims as fictitious, and called Sunday’s election secure and valid. 

                                                                      Khalid Bhatti