The results of Brazil’s first-round presidential election were an unpleasant shock for the left, even if Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party, or PT, finished first and remains the frontrunner against Jair Bolsonaro on Oct. 30. The PT is now a diminished political force, due as much to its own mistakes as the rise of the far right.
Based on the results of the first-round voting in Brazil’s presidential election and current polling, Lula da Silva is expected to defeat Jair Bolsonaro in the second-round runoff on Oct. 30. But no matter who wins, the next president of Brazil will face a polarized political system and disillusioned electorate.
Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is favored to win the 2022 presidential election and return to the office he held between 2003 and 2010. But despite Lula’s pledge to prioritize relations with Africa as he did in his first stint in office, a return to the heydays of the 2000s is a long shot.
