80-year-old Lula da Silva, a vocal Trump critic, re-elected as Brazil’s President

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected on Sunday, defeating his rival Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely contested runoff election.

The 80-year-old left-wing leader is a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump. His victory could offer a boost to those opposed to Washington’s widening influence in Latin America.

Following the completion of the vote count, Brazil’s electoral court announced that Lula had a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes—51.8 per cent of the total vote—over Bolsonaro. 

Bolsonaro, however, refused to concede defeat and said he would seek the annulment of the runoff election. The senator described a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extending voting by two hours as “unacceptable”.

Bolsonaro had outpolled Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of voting earlier this month. However, Lula’s victory in the runoff marked a historic turnaround, making him the first candidate since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1985 to win the presidency after finishing second in the first round.

With the victory, Lula, a member of the Workers’ Party, further cemented his place among Brazil’s longest-serving leaders, behind Getúlio Vargas. By the end of his new term, Lula will have spent a total of 16 years in power, a record in Brazil’s democratic history.

Lula faced a tough re-election battle, with the cost of living, corruption and crime emerging as key campaign issues. Both candidates also faced corruption allegations involving family members and political allies.

Lula had previously spent more than a year in prison following corruption convictions that were subsequently annulled.