Lula wins first round of Brazil's presidential election
October 3, 2022, 10:00 am

Lula wins first round of Brazil's presidential election

Lula, Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010 (Photo: Official Twitter account)

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won the first round of Brazil's presidential election and will face incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off vote.

Left-wing former president Lula came in at 47.97%, while right-wing Bolsonaro received 43.60%, the electoral office announced Sunday.

Since no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, Lula and Bolsonaro as the two strongest contenders will go to a runoff on October 30.

The result was much closer than expected as pre-election polls had Lula far ahead. Some experts suggested respondents had not declared their true favourites or made up their minds on election day.

If Lula wins the second round, he would be Brazil's first democratic president to enter a third term. He was previously president from 2003-2010.

Many of Lula's supporters associate the 76-year-old with Brazil's golden age, when the economy boomed due to high commodity prices and the government used social programmes to lift millions out of abject poverty.

His opponents see him as responsible for corruption and cronyism.

Bolsonaro's supporters meanwhile see the incumbent as a defender of traditional family values and economic freedom.

In the last TV debate before the vote, President Bolsonaro called Lula a thief, in reference to the corruption charges that put him in jail for 580 days before the conviction was annulled.

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Lula, in turn, has labelled Mr Bolsonaro a madman.

Lula has accused Bolsonaro of genocide because of his hesitant coronavirus policy, while Bolsonaro calls Lula a thief as the former president was convicted for corruption and spent time in prison.

Brazil's election has great significance for the rest of the world as the winner will shape the country's environmental policies. As a huge carbon sink, the Amazon plays an important role in the fight against global climate change.

Lula says he will bolster measures to protect the Amazon rainforest, while Mr Bolsonaro has argued that parts of the rainforest should be opened up to economic exploitation.

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Deforestation and forest fires have soared during President Bolsonaro's time in office. Climate activists have warned that if he is re-elected, the area could reach a tipping point.

Critics point out that Lula's environmental record during his time in office - he governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010 - was far from perfect.

But with Mr Bolsonaro counting on the agricultural sector and agribusiness for votes and support, it is Lula who is the preferred choice of climate activists.

More than 156 million people were eligible to vote in Sunday's (October 2) presidential election and voting is compulsory. Lawmakers, senators and governors were also being elected on the same day.

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