Lula won with nearly 51 percent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 49 percent.

– We are moving towards a new age of peace, love and hope. I will lead 215 million Brazilians, and not just those who voted for me. There are no two Brazil. We are one country, one nation, one great nation, said Lula in his first speech after the election victory.

The 77-year-old promised, among other things, that the country would take its place in the fight against the climate crisis, especially when it comes to the Amazon rainforest.

– It is not in anyone’s interests to live in a divided country in a constant state of war. Today we declare to the world: Brazil is back!, said Lula to applause.

Bolsonaro did not speak publicly in the hours after the election defeat became a fact.

Ex president

Lula got 59 million votes, two million more than Bolsonaro, according to Einar Braathen, senior fellow at Oslo Met and head of Brazil at Store norske lexikon.

– This is the largest number of votes ever elected by any president in Brazil, he said.

Lula was also the nation’s president between 2003 and 2010, and is now about to begin his third four-year term. Bolsonaro is the first Brazilian president since the 1990s to be removed from office.

The second round of voting in the presidential election took place on Sunday. Voting was conducted electronically and the results came out quickly after polling stations closed at 21:00 Norwegian time.

Separation

There was tension over whether Bolsonaro would approve the election result if it went Lula’s way, which he has now done.

– Bolsonaro was very stressed in the election campaign on this issue. During the final televised debate on October 28, he stated that whoever gets the most votes becomes president, “that’s democracy”, said Braathen.

– But it is unlikely that Bolsonaro and his supporters will show Lula much respect as president. They will do anything to undermine its legitimacy, he warns.

He added that Bolsonaro’s party has a majority in the country’s national assembly, and it was relatively easy for that majority to start impeachment proceedings against the sitting president.

– Therefore, Brazil will continue to be characterized by political unrest and sharp conflicts in the future, said Braathen.

Happy

US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron were among several who sent congratulations to Lula da Silva after her election win.

– We want to join forces to overcome many challenges together and renew friendly ties between our two countries, Macron wrote Twitter just minutes after the final election results were announced.

Portuguese President Antonio Costa has called Lula and congratulated him, he wrote Twitter.

– I look forward with great enthusiasm to work together in the coming years, in the interests of Portugal and Brazil, but also around global issues, wrote the leader of the former colonizers of Brazil.

Biden congratulated Lula on winning after a “free, fair and credible election”.

– I look forward to working with and continuing cooperation between our two countries in the months and years to come, Biden said in a statement.

Voltage

Opinion polls showed a win for da Silva ahead of the second round of voting, and he also received the most votes in the first round.

But it remains linked to tensions over whether Bolsonaro’s far-right candidate can secure re-election.

Bolsonaro is a controversial politician, who has made racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks.

Under his rule, politics became more polarized. But he also ensured reforms to the pension system that would lead to necessary savings, privatization of ports and airports and construction of infrastructure.

Da Silva is also not a unifying figure in Brazil. He was jailed for a year and a half after being convicted of corruption, a sentence which was later overturned. But he has also been credited with implementing reforms that lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty.

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