BRASÍLIA, Oct 26 – Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday, defeating conservative rival Flávio Bolsonaro by a narrow margin, as the senator refused to accept the result and vowed to seek the annulment of the election.
Official results showed Lula securing 51.8 percent of the vote against 48.2 percent for Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Lula won around 4.4 million more votes than his rival.
The result marks a setback for the conservative political wave that has swept several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, with support from US President Donald Trump.
Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, called the election result unacceptable and alleged irregularities after a Supreme Court ruling extended voting by two hours in some areas, even as some polling stations had already closed.
“It is impossible to recognize the results. I am going to request the annulment of these elections,” he said in a brief speech in Brasília.
The extension followed a request from Lula, who complained that buses had been withdrawn from service in several cities, preventing some voters from reaching polling stations. Bolsonaro also sought an extension in some regions because of heavy rain, but later described the decision as a “dirty trick”.
Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, said his victory reflected voters’ commitment to democracy.
“People went to vote because we managed to convince them that voting was very important for ensuring democracy in the country,” he said in his first comments after the result.
Celebrations broke out in Rio de Janeiro, where fireworks and vuvuzelas rang out, while thousands of Lula supporters dressed in red, the colour of his Workers’ Party, took to the streets of São Paulo.
Lula stages comeback
Lula’s victory followed an intense campaign to recover support after his first-round performance, with the left organising large rallies under the slogan “Never Again Bolsonaro” and revamping its social media strategy.
The abstention rate fell from 21 percent in the first round to 19 percent in the second.
No candidate who finished second in Brazil’s first round had gone on to win the runoff since 1989, the first direct presidential election following the end of the country’s military dictatorship.
The campaign also featured a bitter dispute over social media. Lula’s campaign accused Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, of favouring Bolsonaro through “algorithmic manipulation”. Meta denied the allegation but acknowledged that some Lula campaign advertisements had been deactivated by mistake because of technical errors.
“We are going to have to regulate them,” Lula said of social media companies after his victory.
The contest exposed deep political divisions in Brazil, where voters remain divided over the country’s economic direction, crime and the legacy of the Bolsonaro presidency.
Lula, who first became president in 2003 and won re-election in 2006, returned to office in 2022 after corruption convictions that had led to more than 18 months in prison were annulled on procedural grounds.
During his third term, inflation and unemployment declined, while millions of people were lifted out of hunger. However, concerns over the cost of living and crime remained key issues for voters.
“We’re in a deep hole, things are dire. People can barely afford to eat – buying meat is out of the question,” said Tereza Cristina Ramos, a 68-year-old retiree who voted in Rio de Janeiro.
Bolsonaro sought to broaden his appeal by presenting himself as more moderate and approachable than his father, attracting conservative voters as well as those seeking political change.
Challenges ahead
Lula begins his fourth term with nearly half of voters having backed his opponent and a right-dominated Congress likely to complicate his legislative agenda.
He will be 85 by the end of his new term in 2030, making his age another defining feature of his return to office.
Foreign policy and national sovereignty were central themes of Lula’s campaign, particularly amid trade and diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration.
“This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard,” Lula said on Sunday.
The president-elect received congratulations from Chile’s right-wing President José Antonio Kast and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa, both close allies of Trump. Mexico’s left-wing President Claudia Sheinbaum also congratulated Lula, writing on X: “Long live democracy, the people of Brazil won.”
