Lula wins unprecedented fourth term in Brazil runoff

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a bitterly contested runoff, according to NPR and India Today. The result gives the 80-year-old left-wing leader another national mandate after a campaign in which his reelection appeared uncertain at several points. Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, had finished first in the opening round and sought to restore his family’s far-right political movement.

Lula’s victory therefore represents a reversal of the first-round result and a setback for a broader right-wing trend in Latin America, India Today reported. Pollsters cited stronger-than-expected turnout as one factor behind Lula’s success. Leonardo Barreto, co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen familiarity over an uncertain alternative.

“People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension, and a known path, which guarantees certain rights,” he said. The result extends Lula’s unusual political comeback. He served as president from 2003 to 2011, returned to power after defeating Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, and was jailed between 2018 and 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned.

India Today reported that he is the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to win the presidency after finishing second in the first round. During the campaign, Lula emphasized his record on poverty, inequality, unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation. He warned that a Bolsonaro presidency could reduce welfare spending, reverse social advances and increase Brazil’s dependence on the United States under President Donald Trump.

India Today said the result was also a setback for Trump’s administration, which had supported the Bolsonaro family’s return to power. Lula’s fourth term will begin with a difficult legislative balance. Brazil has elected its most conservative Congress since the restoration of democracy, and Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party and allies could hold more than 280 seats in the lower house and as many as 50 in the Senate.

Getulio Vargas Foundation professor Oliver Stuenkel said Lula could be “a lame duck from the start”, while experts cited by India Today warned that impeachment could become a source of uncertainty. The president also faces economic headwinds, including high interest rates, rising public debt and heavy household borrowing. The government forecasts growth of 2.3% next year, while debt has risen above 82% of gross domestic product.

Lula campaigned on measures including free public transport on weekends, subject to congressional approval, and a 15% increase in his flagship welfare programme. The supplied reports do not specify the final vote margin or Lula’s immediate plans for forming legislative alliances.