Brazil’s Lula clinches fourth presidential term after runoff victory

Brasilia: Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won the country’s presidential runoff, securing a fourth term in office after overturning a first-round deficit, according to results released by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court.

With 99.89 per cent of votes counted, the ruling Workers’ Party candidate received 51.78 per cent of valid votes, while Liberal Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, secured 48.23 per cent.

Lula will be sworn in on January 5, 2027, for a four-year term running until 2030. His victory marks a significant political comeback after he trailed Bolsonaro in the first round of voting held on October 4.

The result halts a potential rightward shift in Latin America that US President Donald Trump has backed. Lula will now face a Congress in which Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party holds its largest bench in decades, along with the challenge of stabilising Brazil’s public debt.

Shortly after the results, Lula thanked Brazilian voters in a post on X, saying the people had shown him that “no dream is too big when we walk together”.

He described the campaign’s walks, acts and marches as encounters of shared aspirations that had produced concrete achievements, including the end of the 6x1 workday. Lula said every handshake and smile reminded him of his lifelong commitment to Brazil’s workers.

“We emerged from this journey stronger, more united, and more mobilised to ensure a better future,” he said, thanking Brazilians for their support and saying the country’s story still had “many beautiful pages left to write”.

In the first round, Bolsonaro led with 47.03 per cent of valid votes, narrowly ahead of Lula’s 45.16 per cent. The close result led to three weeks of intense campaigning across Latin America’s largest country.

(Inputs from IANS)