Brazil appear to have been split down the middle when they went to the polls on Sunday. Brazil’s current president, Jair Bolsonaro, has not yet acknowledged defeat. The narrow victory of only 50.9 percent for Lula da Silva increases the risk of political unrest after the election, says Benedicte Bull, professor at the Center for Development and Environment at the University of Oslo. – Firstly, it makes it more likely that Bolsanaro will challenge the election result, which has been feared for several years. Like former US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has also clearly emphasized before the election that he has no confidence in the electoral system. Even if Bolsonaro were to acknowledge defeat, they could become challenging for Lula to govern, Bull believes. – Secondly, it is a challenge for Lula that he has barely 51 per cent of the population behind him. In addition, he has a Congress that is very much against him, says the professor. – Brazil is back The recent election winner gave his first speech on the night of Monday Norwegian time after it became clear that he had won the presidential election. – We are moving towards new times of peace, love and hope. I will lead 215 million Brazilians, and not just those who voted for me. There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people, one great nation, Lula said in his speech. The 77-year-old, who has also previously been president of Brazil, won the election by a narrow margin over incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro. – It is not in anyone’s interest to live in a divided country in a constant state of war, he continued. He added that the country is ready to take back its place in the fight against the climate crisis, especially when it comes to the Amazon rainforest. Lula also made a clear statement to the world. – Today we declare to the world: Brazil is back!, said Lula to applause. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Lula on his victory. Electoral winner Lula da Silva in Brazil gave his first speech on Sunday evening after it became clear that he will become the country’s next president. Photo: Andre Penner / AP Took the lead from Bolsonaro The polling stations closed at 21, Norwegian time, Sunday, and at midnight it was clear that Lula da Silva had won the election. 50.9 percent voted for Lula and 49.1 percent for Bolsonaro. The first votes that were counted were from areas where Bolsonaro has the greatest support and the president took a clear lead. But Lula narrowed his lead throughout election night, and was elected president of Brazil for the third time. The police stopped voters Election day was characterized by the police in several areas of the country stopping buses with voters on their way to the polling stations. According to the major newspaper Folha de São Paulo, such buses were stopped in more than 500 places. This prompted the leader of Lula’s party, Gleisi Hoffmann, to demand the arrest of the head of the traffic police. COMPULSORY VOTING: Voting is compulsory for everyone between 18 and 70, and the queues were long in front of the polling stations. Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP Police chief Silvinei Vasquees today urged his followers on Instagram to vote for Jair Bolsonaro in today’s election, but the post was later deleted. After the President of Brazil’s Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, ordered Vasques to remove the barriers, the buses were allowed to continue. All the voters arrived at the polling stations and were able to vote, according to TSE’s president. Dirty election campaign In the first round of elections on 2 October, Lula received about as many votes as the pollsters had predicted: 48 per cent. While Bolsonaro’s result was far better than expected: 43.5 percent. But since no one was able to achieve the required 50 percent of the country’s votes, there had to be a rematch on 30 October. The weeks leading up to Sunday’s election have largely been about talking down the opponent. Little has been said about how to concretely shape the policy and bring Brazil out of the shadow of the pandemic. OPPOSING CANDIDATE: Jair Bolsonaro cast his vote in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: BRUNA PRADO / AFP Bolsonaro’s campaign has been characterized by slogans such as: “God, fatherland, family and freedom”, and threats that Brazil will drown in communism if Lula wins. While Lula has promised “to take Brazil back” and “to give the poor a better life.” Brazil has never experienced an election campaign with so much hostility and so much fake news. After every televised debate, the newspapers have had long lists of statements containing factual errors. And the words “lie” and “lies” have been used extensively – at election meetings, in TV debates and on social media. It’s about the fate of the rainforest – The election of Lula gives us and our allies in Brazil hope, says Anders Haug Larsen of the Rainforest Fund to news. – But Lula has a big task ahead of her. The very first thing he must do is put an end to deforestation and overcome the violence against indigenous peoples and other environmentalists. He is supported by an analysis for Carbon brif. It shows that a Lula victory could cut deforestation by 89 percent by 2030. DEFORESTATION: A deforested area in the rainforest. The picture is from September. Photo: DOUGLAS MAGNO / AFP Under Bolsonaro’s leadership, deforestation has increased by up to 75 percent, according to the Rainforest Foundation. In the Carbon brief’s analysis, the researchers take as their point of departure that Lula keeps his election promises to crack down on deforestation. When Lula was president from 2003 to 2011, his government managed to reduce deforestation by 70 percent.
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Bolsonaro has not acknowledged defeat – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
