Lula wins the election and will be president of Brazil for the third time

Fábio Leite – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the new president of Brazil. After receiving 59,563,912 votes (50.83%), Lula is reconducted as president of the Republic and will lead the country for the third time, after 98.81% of the totaled polls. In a close race against re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro, Lula turned the vote against the current president at the end of the counting process and confirmed his victory. Bolsonaro got 57,627,462 of the votes (49.17%).

The concern with the Amazon is one of the factors that gave Lula the victory in most northern states. The PT’s proposals for the region include the creation of a ministry for native peoples, with the participation of indigenous people in the command of the portfolio, thus generating the inclusion of this population.

“We are going to win the elections to be able to take care of the Amazon and not allow the invasion of indigenous land, illegal mining, and much less anyone wanting to plant corn, soy or any other product in a place that cannot be planted”, declared the PT candidate in one of the last debates on TV when defending environmental preservation.

The new president has a vision of protection for the region. Lula has already shown himself to be against illegal mining practices in Indigenous Lands (TI) and Conservation Units (UC). Besides defending the return of the Ministry of Fisheries and that the national agriculture should use practices that aim at the promotion of low carbon.

Proposals and challenges

In a campaign marked by attacks, Lula overcame the strategy used by Jair Bolsonaro and managed to convince the majority of the population that his government is the best for the country by promising a real increase in the minimum wage, income tax exemption for those who earn up to R$ 5 thousand per month, the strengthening of SUS, the non-privatization of public companies, as well as other proposals aimed at greater state participation.

The PT will need political game to deal with an opposition Congress. The conservative bench will have greater participation in the next legislature. Lula has already stated that he will fight the “Secret Budget”; and one of the proposals of the new president is to count on popular participation through the “Participative Budget”, a project already used in the first PT mandates.

In Amazonas, Luiz Inácio defeated Bolsonaro with 50.94% of the valid votes. Most of the Amazonian cities guaranteed victory to the new president in the state. Not even the result obtained in Manaus, which has shown itself to be a “Bolsonarist pole” in the last elections, caused Lula to be defeated by Jair Bolsonaro.

Profile

At 77, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was born in Caetés, in the countryside of Pernambuco. With a life focused on union struggles, the former metalworker became the representative of the working class, and through the Workers’ Party (PT) became Brazil’s 35th president.

He governed the country for the first time in 2003 and was reelected until 2010. After overcoming accusations, lawsuits and prison, Lula turned things around and was elected president for the third time.