Former President Lula da Silva won the first round of Brazilian elections with more than 48 percent of the vote, against more than 43 percent for President Jair Bolsonaro, but he was unable to close the dispute. The names of the two most voted candidates return to the ballot papers in a “second round” scheduled for the end of the month, on October 30th.
Behind in the partial count for most of the election night, Lula da Silva took the lead when the count reached 70 percent of the sections. The former president, however, performed below the voting intention polls, which put him with a margin of almost ten percentage points over the current Brazilian president.
Shortly after 1:30 am, the election was “mathematically defined”, forcing a second round, according to the results released by the Superior Electoral Court.
In a first reaction to this Sunday’s victory, from São Paulo, Lula da Silva began by “thanking the generosity of the Brazilian people” and recalled that four years ago he himself was seen as a finished politician in a campaign marked by “lie”.
“The fight continues until the final victory”, declared Lula da Silva, who said he saw this scenario only as “an extension”.
Brazilians return to the polls on the 30th to choose the president of the Republic.
“I always thought that we were going to win the elections and we are going to win the elections. This is just an extension for us,” he said.
The former president said he believed that nothing happens by chance and recalled that throughout the campaign he was ahead in polls.
“To the disgrace of some, I have another 30 days to go out on the street. I love campaigning, I love rallying” and “it will be important because it will be the chance to have a debate with the President of the Republic. Bolsonaro gives it to me”, said Lula da Silva in a confident tone.
Bolsonaro avoids talking about electoral fraud
Reacting to tonight’s results, President Jair Bolsonaro admitted that “a part of the population expressed a desire to change”, warning however that “some changes come for the worse”.
When 98.61 percent of the votes were counted, Lula da Silva reached 48.12 percent and Jair Bolsonaro got 43.47. Simone Tebet had 4.19 percent and Ciro Gomes 3.05.
On the “truthfulness” of the results, Bolsonaro referred to the analysis of the competent bodies.
“There is always the possibility that something abnormal will happen”, left the president.
The Brazilian president also affirmed that he won the “lie” of the polls that put him only 36% in the voting intentions and Lula da Silva with the possibility of a victory in the first round.
“We won the lie today,” he told reporters at Palácio da Alvorada, adding: “We have a second round ahead of us.”
156 million Brazilians called to the polls
The more than 156 million voters were called this Sunday to vote until 17:00 in Brasília (21:00 in Lisbon), in the 577,125 electronic voting machines spread across 5,570 cities in the country.
For the presidential elections, in addition to Lula and Bolsonaro, voters were also able to vote for Simone Tebet, Ciro Gomes, Luís Felipe D’Ávila, Soraya Tronicke, Eymael, Father Kelmon, Leonardo Pericles, Sofia Manzano and Vera Lúcia.
Ciro Gomes “deeply concerned about threats” to the country
Presidential candidate Ciro Gomes said today that he was “deeply concerned about what is happening in Brazil” and considered that there was “a potentially threatening situation” to the country’s future.
In a short statement made to his family in Fortaleza, Ciro Gomes said he regretted the “many threats” that he considers Brazil faces, and asked for more time to think about his own future.
“I have never seen a situation so complex, so challenging and potentially threatening to our fortunes as a nation,” said the candidate who finished fourth in the first round with about three percent of the vote.
“Give me a few more hours to talk with my party, with my friends, to see how I can better serve the Brazilian nation”, asked, before leaving the stage, the former minister of Lula da Silva, who won the elections. on Sunday and will face Jair Bolsonaro, the current head of state (far-right).
Throughout the campaign, Ciro Gomes harshly criticized Lula da Silva, accusing him of corruption, which generated declarations of vote by supporters of the Workers’ Party candidate.
Simone Tebet promises to announce support for the second round
The candidate gave the parties that support her a period of 48 hours to define their vote in the second round and promised that she will make her decision public: “I already have a side, I will not cower”, said Simone Tebet, who was third in this first round.
“Parties need to position themselves as quickly as possible,” said the candidate, who tried to be an alternative to the Workers’ Party candidate Lula da Silva (left) and the current head of state, Jair Bolsonaro (far right).
With 4.2 percent, Simone Tebet was supported by the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), and Cidadania.
Source: With Agencies
