Lula vows no return to dictatorship and world leaders offer congratulations after historic Brazil comeback win
Flávio Bolsonaro reacts to his defeat in the Brazilian presidential election, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured 51.7 per cent of the vote after a Supreme Court ruling extended voting hours in Bahia.Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving his sentence under house arrest, lost to Lula da Silva in 2022 — no candidate trailing after a Brazilian first round has ever won a runoff.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged that democracy will prevail and received an outpouring of congratulations from global leaders, as Flávio Bolsonaro contends that the two-hour extension to polling hours 'changed the rules in the middle of the game', despite his own campaign having pushed for the same extension. Lula, 80, secured 51.79% of the vote to 48.21%, a winning margin of 4.4 million votes. The Brazilian real fell nearly 12% against the dollar, while the Bovespa dropped 10%, triggering a circuit breaker that halted trading.
Lula is the first president since 1985 to claim victory having lost the first round.
Justice Cristiano Zanin, who ordered the voting extension, previously served as Lula's personal lawyer.
Trader Jerson Zanlorenzi described the result as 'a tsunami that will hit all Brazilian assets'.
