Photo: Collected
Who will be Brazil’s next president? Even after the first round of voting, that question remains unanswered. In the election held yesterday, Sunday, neither of the two main candidates could secure the required 50 percent of the vote. As a result, in line with the rules, the election has gone to a second round.
Brazil’s voters will vote again on 25 October to choose the country’s next head of state.
British media outlet BBC reports that 13 candidates are contesting this election. However, the main fight is between the incumbent president, leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula is 80 years old, while Flavio Bolsonaro is 45. Flavio is the son of former president and far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
According to the BBC report, there was a neck-and-neck fight between Lula and Flavio in the first round. With 98.81 percent of the votes counted, Flavio is clearly ahead, having received 47.24 percent of the vote. Lula, on the other hand, has received 44.91 percent.
With the votes that remain to be counted, neither Lula nor Flavio can cross the required 50 percent threshold. As a result, it became certain even before the full count was completed that no one could have the last laugh in the first round. Now the wait is for the second-round vote and its result, in which these two candidates will contest.
President Lula has called trailing in the first round ‘unexpected’. Saying he will ‘come back stronger’ in the next round, he said yesterday, ‘I was sure I would win in the first round. But the real game is only about to begin.’
The leftist politician further said, ‘We are now in the game’s extra time. Within the extra time, we will win the hearts of the people of Brazil.’
On the other hand, Flavio, the son of the former president, is ‘very happy’ to be ahead in the first round. Expressing confidence of winning the next round too, the senator said yesterday, ‘I am extremely delighted at the real possibility that, just three weeks from now, the people of Brazil will make the final decision by choosing a modern government.’
In Brazil’s last presidential election, Lula defeated Flavio’s father Jair Bolsonaro and removed him from power. After that, Jair Bolsonaro became embroiled in various legal troubles. He is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence as the mastermind of a coup attempt following his election defeat.
The right wing is now triumphant in most Latin American countries. Voters in many countries of the region are electing people close to US President Donald Trump. Which way Brazil, the largest country in Latin America both geographically and economically, will go will be known in about three weeks.
Source: BBC
