Ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wins votes in Brazil's election, but not a clear triumph | Trending-Topics

 After the former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva failed to secure the overall majority necessary to avoid a run-off with the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's bitter presidential race will proceed to the second round.

The leftist veteran had 48.3% of the vote when more than 99.5% of the votes were counted, but not enough to avoid the showdown with his right-wing opponent on October 30.43.3% of the vote went to Bolsonaro, who significantly outperformed pollsters' predictions and will be encouraged by the outcome.

Lula, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, addressed the media at a hotel in downtown So Paulo and declared, "Our struggle will continue until we achieve victory.

I hope this election will be decided tomorrow, but if it isn't, we'll have to act like a football team when a game goes to overtime. After 15 minutes of rest, he told reporters, "we'll get back out on the pitch to score the goals we didn't score in normal time."

Lula's Workers' Party president Gleisi Hoffmann told reporters that the campaign was neither "sad nor downcast" about the outcome and cited Lula's more than 56 million votes.

However, the outcome of the election was a significant setback for progressive Brazilians, who had been hoping for a decisive victory over Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has vandalized Brazil's international reputation and repeatedly attacked the country's democratic institutions.

In addition, Bolsonaro is accused of wreaking havoc on the environment and catastrophically mismanaging a Covid epidemic that resulted in the deaths of nearly 700,000 Brazilians by undermining efforts to vaccinate and contain the outbreak and selling bogus treatments.

On Sunday night, Bolsonaro said he would spend more time trying to convince the poorest members of society that a far-right government will be better for them than a leftist one.

“I understand there were a lot of votes (cast) because of the condition of the Brazilian people, who feel price increases, especially for basic products,” the leader of the far right stated. I understand that many people want change, but not all changes are good.

He reiterated that Brazil must not follow in the footsteps of neighboring countries like Chile and Colombia, which recently elected leftist leaders. However, he pointedly refused to answer questions about possible voter fraud after casting doubt on the safety of electronic voting machines for months.

If Lula wins, Bolsonaro's supporters are concerned about an insurrection similar to that of Donald Trump as a result of his hints that he will not step down from office.

Bolsonaro's former health minister, Eduardo Pazzuelo, who became a congressman for Rio, and his former environment minister, Ricardo Salles, were among the prominent Bolsonaristas who was elected to Brazil's congress and as state governors.

During the peak of the pandemic in Brazil, which resulted in the deaths of over 685,000 people, Pazzuelo served as Bolsonaro's Health Minister. He advocated bogus treatments like hydroxychloroquine as a former military general.

While Salles was Environment Minister, Amazonian deforestation increased significantly. The far-right ideologue was accused of hindering the investigation of environmental crimes in a Federal Police investigation. He was linked to illegal logging exports, according to a separate investigation. He denied every accusation.

Cláudio Castro, the governor of Rio who backs Bolsonaro, was re-elected, and evangelical preacher Damares Alves, one of Bolsonaro's most divisive former ministers, ran for the Senate.

In the second round, Bolsonaro's candidate for the governorship of So Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas, will face Lula's ally, Fernando Haddad. His performance was also better than pollsters anticipated.

Christian Lynch, a political scientist, stated, "The far-right will be thrilled."

The right's stronger-than-expected performance, according to academic and Folha de So Paulo columnist Thiago Amparo, demonstrated that Bolsonaro and Bolsonarismo were "alive and kicking."

Amparo continued, "I feel exhausted."However, the outcomes indicate that we are running out of time to rest. Otherwise, we will once more face a very dark future.

Even though he thought Lula was still the favorite, political observer Thomas Trautmann said, "I think Bolsonaro has the momentum."The left has had a very disappointing evening.

As the right-wing victories and the need for a second round became clear, Lula and his allies showed determination.

Before heading to a celebration with his supporters on Paulista avenue in So Paulo, Lula stated, "I think this is a chance that the Brazilian people are giving me."Tomorrow is the start of the campaign."

A huge crowd of people, most of them dressed in red, danced the samba and drank beer as they waited for the final score to appear on a screen overlooking the square in Rio de Janeiro's historic city center.

However, when the results showed that Lula was still nearly 2% short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff battle with Bolsonaro, the excitement subsided.

Katharine Gil, a university student who is 23 years old, stated, "I'm disappointed."  we discovered that Bolsonaro is more powerful than we thought.

Elaine Azevedo, a security systems worker who was 34 years old, looked defeated as she looked up at the enormous screen that showed the results.

Azevedo, who wore red from head to toe and wore a hat with Lula's name on it, said, "I feel despair, pure despair."Everyone thought Lula would easily win.

However, Eudacio Queiroz Alves, a 65-year-old retired driver, was having a party about a block away at a neighborhood bar.

He said, "We expected this. Bolsonaro has the support of the people." I am certain that he will prevail."