Ex-Brazilian Prez Lula defeats Bolsonaro in run off polls

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated sitting President Jair Bolsonaro in the second round of the presidential elections, paving the way for his third four-year term beginning January 1, 2023. Figures released by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) showed that Lula of the Workers’ Party (PT) obtained more than 60 million votes, or 50.89 per cent of the ballots, cast on Sunday, surpassing Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, who received over 58 million votes, or 49.11 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.This is the smallest margin in a second-round presidential election in Brazil’s history.In the first round held on October 2, Lula garnered 48.3 per cent of the vote, compared to 43.2 per cent for Bolsonaro.Lula, 77, served as the President for two terms between 2003 and 2010.This is a comeback for the former President who could not run in the 2018 election because he was in jail and banned from standing for office.He had been found guilty of receiving a bribe from a Brazilian construction firm in return for contracts with Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras.Lula spent 580 days in jail before his conviction was annulled and he returned to the political fray.In this year’s presidential elections, his strength lay particularly in voters from the impoverished northeast of Brazil.