In just three years, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has gone from prisoner to president-elect. The former two-term president beat far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election with 50.9% of the vote compared to 49.1% for Bolsonaro.
The margin was narrow but it was enough to beat Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters had been confident of victory.
It is a stunning political resurrection for Da Silva who could not run in the last presidential election in 2018 because he was in jail and banned from standing for office. He had been found guilty of receiving a bribe from a Brazilian construction firm in return for contracts with Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras spending 580 days in jail before his conviction was annulled and he returned to the political fray.
However analysts suggest that the division which this election has highlighted is unlikely to vanish.
Da Silva will be sworn-in for a four-year term on Jan. 1 2023.
