Former Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva won the first round of the presidential elections, but not the presidency despite polls giving him victory. With 48.18% of the votes, he was just over 2% away from taking the cat to the water. His rival, the current president Jair Bolsonaro, did not exceed 43.41%.
This indicates first of all that Brazil, like the United States, is an extremely divided country. Lula lost in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, two important seats. But she won in the rural and poorest areas of the country.
It was a very peculiar day with results of photo-finish. When the vote count began, Bolsonaro appeared with a 10 percentage point advantage. But as the night progressed that distance gradually decreased. He never recovered.
Now there is a second round of elections at the end of October, which will undoubtedly sharpen the exchange of accusations that characterized the campaign, particularly the last presidential debate, in which Bolsonaro went so far as to accuse Lula of being a “traitor to the country.” .
“Nothing happens by chance in this entire campaign, although those who did not want me to win put us first, I want to tell you that we are going to win these elections. This is just a prolongation”, Lula said in the first statements to her supporters at the campaign headquarters in São Paulo.
Lula recalled that “four years ago they considered me as someone thrown out of politics. They were wrong. Unfortunately for some, I have 30 days to campaign and [ahora] we will have the opportunity to debate with the president. It was a chance that the Brazilian people gave me.”
Thus, “the campaign begins tomorrow” and the “fight continues until the final victory,” said the former center-left president and former union leader.
