Brazil’s incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won the election defeating his right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro, who is known being backed by US President Donald Trump.
Lula was reelected to a historic fourth term Sunday, but his defeated rival and Trump ally Senator Bolsonaro said he would not accept the results and would mount a legal challenge.
Supporters cheered Lula after he made the victory possible overturning a defeat in the first round of voting.
Lula’s victory is the first time since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1988 that a candidate who lost the first round has gone on to win the presidency, according to a BBC report.
The 80-year-old politician secured 51.79% of the votes, compared with Bolsonaro’s 48.21%. The election office said the difference is more than 4 million votes.
Lula thanked his supporters who he said had “defended Brazilian democracy” – he also said the result showed Brazil “will not accept being anyone’s backyard”.
“I can assure you that we are going to change the way we govern this country. We are going to give the people a greater role in our decisions,” Lula said after his reelection.
Bolsonaro said the result was “inexplicable” and has called for it to be annulled – though Brazil’s Supreme Court president has confirmed the result. Experts say it is unlikely to be scrapped.
Voting was extended by two hours after a request from both campaigns.
Lula’s team alleged voter suppression due to a shortage of buses in several cities and Bolsonaro’s team raised concerns about poor weather conditions in the south of the country.
