Brazil’s left-wing President Lula has won election for a fourth term in office, defeating his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro.
The 80-year-old, who took just under 52% in the run-off vote, thanked cheering supporters in São Paulo who he says “defended Brazilian democracy”
Bolsonaro who won the first round says the result is “inexplicable” and calls for it to be annulled.
His father, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, is currently serving a jail sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the last election
However, while Lula’s supporters are ecstatic about his victory, the result shows that the country remains deeply divided, with more than 48% of voters choosing Bolsonaro.
In addition to the challenge of uniting such a deeply polarised country, Lula will have to govern alongside the most right-wing Congress in Brazil’s democratic era.
Before the election, Lula promised to bridge the gap between Brazil’s opposing political poles with “a new way of governing”, adding in a WhatsApp livestream before the election that “this country will never be the same again”.
While he provided little detail as to what the new way of governing would entail, he insisted he would “remain firm in the fight for a more just country, with opportunities for all and policies directed at the needs of the population”.
With a largely hostile Congress, this fight just may prove much harder for the veteran leader, who will be 85 by the end of his fourth term than in his three previous terms in office.
