(Politics): Lula da Silva of Brazil is back; Wins the Presidential Election after Prison

The fiercely fought Brazil’s election is now over after a run-off. And the former president, Lula da Silva beating his arch opponent, the incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro. And now Brazil has taken a turn to the left away from the far-right.

After a divisive campaign, which saw two bitter rivals on opposite sides of the political spectrum go head to head, Lula won 50.9% of the votes. It was enough to beat Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters had been confident of his victory. But the division which this election has highlighted is unlikely to vanish now that all is over.

It is a dramatic comeback for a politician who could not run in the last presidential election in 2018 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. Imprisoned in 2018 but conviction was later thrown out.

Speaking to his supporters and the whole country after the results were announced he said, "They tried to bury me alive and here I am," he said, kicking off his victory speech. But Lula, who served two terms in office between January 2003 and December 2010, is no stranger to forging political alliances.

He further in a conciliatory tone said, he would govern for all Brazilians and not just those who voted for him. "This country needs peace and unity. This population doesn't want to fight anymore,".

"Today we tell the world that Brazil is back. It is too big to be banished to this sad role of global pariah," he added in a dig at his rival.

But at the heart of his speech was a promise to tackle hunger, which has been on the rise in Brazil and which is affecting more than 33 million. Key to Lula's popularity during his first two terms in office was lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty.

Opinion polls suggested from the start that he would win the election, but when his lead in the first round was much narrower than predicted, many Brazilians started to doubt their accuracy.

However, while Jair Bolsonaro has lost, lawmakers close to him won a majority in Congress, which means that Lula will face stiff opposition to his policies in the legislative body.

Jair Bolsonaro has yet to concede. The campaign had in part been so tense because the far-right president had cast doubts - without offering any evidence - on the reliability of Brazil's electronic voting system. This fomented fears he might not accept the result if it went against him.

A new Brazil is here.

OneForumNews1