The Brazilian electorate voted yesterday for a president. Once again, it was lefty Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against a rightist fellow with Bolsonaro as a surname. This time the second-place finisher was Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the previous right-wing president and frequent failed candidate Jair Bolsonaro (currently serving 27+ years under house arrest for his criminal attempt to retain power after the last election). This was a run-off between the two, and Mr. Bolsonaro actually finished in first place in the first round. Turnout was 80.8%, two points higher than in the first round. The final count was 64.3 million for Mr. Lula and 59.8 million for the younger Mr. Bolsonaro.
Like his father, the rightist candidate has failed to concede defeat. Al Jazeera pointed out, “Bolsonaro refused to concede and called for the run-off result to be annulled after Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered voting to be extended by two hours. Both candidates had requested extensions, citing transport disruptions and severe weather.”
The vote is not going to be annulled. The victory margin was simply too large. While the Supreme Court of Brazil may entertain the lawsuit (Justice Zanin was appointed by Bolsonaro Major), there is really no straw at which to grasp.
The 80-year-old president-elect (who turns 81 tomorrow) appears to have the necessary energy to run the country for the next few years. “This, my fourth term, will be the best of any president in the history of this country”, the former metal worker said. “It will be the one in which I listen most to the Brazilian people.”
Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin told him, “You, for the second time, have saved Brazilian democracy.”
Editor-in-chief of The Brazilian Report, Gustavo Ribeiro explained, “Lula’s campaign also got its act together after a first round in which it acted as if this election was in the bag and essentially running an anachronistic, mostly offline campaign.
“The campaign really pivoted towards a digital mentality and a grassroots effort,” Ribeiro said, adding that Lula had used “the power of incumbency very cleverly in his favour”.
“I would say this is more the merit of Lula, even if Bolsonaro just worked to run off the clock.”
Now comes the hard part — governing. Reuters suggested there are five areas where Brazil needs action:
- Soaring debt
- High Interest rates and stick inflation
- Debt-laden households and businesses
- Scarce political capital for reform and
- Tax reform uncertainty
There are quite a few countries that have those problems. Mr. Lula has a different approach than most, however. The fact is he believes the state can help, and will not hand things over to the private sector a la Thatcher and Reagan.
In addition, he has Donald Trump to deal with. Mr. Trump backed the Bolsonaro campaign and is probably quite unhappy about Brazil this morning. When the elder Mr. Bolsonaro was convicted of insurrection and attempted coup d’etat, Mr. Trump increased tariffs and created other aggravation for Brazil. Mr. Lula is going to have to find a way to live in the same hemisphere are Mr. Trump. In this, he will benefit from the mid-term elections in the US, which will reduce Mr. Trump’s ability to do things when congressional approval is required.
Brazil is not in for an easy time since the entire world is not in for an easy time in the coming year or two. However, it has chosen a leader who just might be able to put the people of the country first when it comes to dealing with the problems that lie ahead.