- Modi congratulates “dear friend” Lula on his reelection
- Lula wins with 51.8 percent, nearly 4.4 million votes ahead
- Flávio Bolsonaro refuses to concede and seeks annulment
- Lula faces a hostile, conservative Congress in his fourth term
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his “remarkable re-election victory,” pledging to deepen ties between the two countries.
“Heartiest congratulations to my dear friend, President Lula, on his remarkable re-election victory. I look forward to working closely with him to further deepen and expand the multifaceted India-Brazil Strategic Partnership,” Modi said on X.
He said the two countries would continue to strengthen cooperation, advance the shared priorities of the Global South and work toward a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world.
Lula, 80, won Sunday’s runoff with 51.8 percent of the vote and a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s electoral court said with all votes counted.
Bolsonaro refuses to concede
Bolsonaro, who led the first round, refused to accept defeat and said he would seek to have the result annulled over a Supreme Court justice’s decision to extend voting by two hours on Sunday.
Analysts said an annulment was unlikely given the scale of his loss, more than twice his father’s 2022 losing margin, and because his own campaign had requested an extension because of rain in Brazil’s conservative-leaning south.
“It’s very improbable that it will lead to the reversal of the result,” said Mario Braga, a Latin America analyst at risk consultancy RANE, though he warned of possible right-wing protests.
His refusal echoes his father’s response to losing to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro never accepted that defeat and was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup.
Comeback king
The win is the latest comeback in Lula’s long career. He was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, clearing the way for his 2022 victory. He is now the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to win after finishing second in the first round.
Pollsters credited higher-than-expected turnout. Lula campaigned on falling poverty and inequality, and late pledges including free weekend public transport and a 15 percent increase in his flagship welfare program.
He warned that Bolsonaro would hand Brazil’s sovereignty to US President Donald Trump, whose State Department campaigned for the Bolsonaros’ return to power. Lula’s win denies Trump a major addition to a growing bloc of friendly right-wing governments in Latin America.
There was no immediate comment from Trump or the State Department. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Latin American leaders quickly offered congratulations.
Markets slide
Investors who had bet on a Bolsonaro victory braced for a volatile week. A Tokyo-listed fund tracking Brazil’s Bovespa index fell nearly 15 percent in Asian trading, and the Brazilian real was expected to drop sharply against the dollar.
A tough fourth term
Lula faces Brazil’s most conservative Congress since the 1980s, with Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party and its allies potentially controlling more than 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 in the Senate.
The economy is forecast to grow just 2.3 percent next year, public debt has passed 82 percent of GDP and household debt is surging. Goldman Sachs said it expects at most modest progress on curbing spending.
(With inputs from agencies)
JD VanceReuters
Amy ActonJeff Swensen/Getty Images
