Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a fourth term in Sunday’s runoff against right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, who refuses to concede and is seeking to annul the vote. Brazil’s electoral court said late Sunday that Lula had won an unprecedented fourth term, according to France 24.
The margin is reported differently by each outlet. Dawn reported that Lula won 51.7 per cent of the vote to 48.2 per cent for Bolsonaro. Euronews reported 51.8 per cent of the total vote and a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes, while France 24 reported a lead of over 4 million votes. No official final tally is cited in the reporting.
Bolsonaro refused to accept defeat and said he would request an annulment of the election, according to France 24. Euronews reported that he contested the tally, said the election should be annulled, and called the judiciary’s order to extend voting hours a "dirty trick" after transport delays and torrential rains. No evidence for the annulment claims is cited.
No response from the electoral court or the judiciary to the annulment request has been reported. The annulment claims come only from Euronews and France 24.
Several governments and EU leaders were among the first to congratulate Lula. According to Euronews, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa were among the first, and both worked with Lula to secure the EU-Mercosur trade deal signed in January. According to France 24, the Kremlin, China, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and India’s Narendra Modi also congratulated him.
The legislative results point to a difficult term. According to Dawn, Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party holds 121 of 513 deputies and 28 of 81 senators, and Lula has no majority in Congress. Only Dawn gives these seat counts, and no second source confirms them.
Flavio Bolsonaro’s father, Jair Bolsonaro, is in jail for leading a coup attempt. Dawn reports that he received a 27-year sentence. Lula campaigned on protecting Brazilian sovereignty as concern grows over US influence in Latin America, and Trump has imposed tariffs on Brazil.
Analysts quoted by Dawn say Brazil faces heavy public debt above 80 per cent of GDP, a state that spends more than it collects, and a central bank rate that is among the world’s highest. France 24 says analysts think an annulment is unlikely to succeed, but it names none of them.
Bolsonaro’s request to annul the election is pending. Lula faces a divided Congress, fiscal pressure and US tariff disputes during his fourth term. The reporting does not yet show a final official tally, and the margin figures differ across outlets.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.