Brazil’s Lula defies odds to clinch poll victory against Flavio Bolsonaro

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured an unprecedented fourth term in Brazil, completing a comeback victory against right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro. According to El Pais, Lula won with 51.7% of the votes compared to Bolsonaro's 48.2%, a margin of four million votes. This result makes Lula the first Brazilian president to win an election after losing the first round. The Toronto Sun noted that Bolsonaro had previously defeated Lula in the first round of the election.

The voting process on Sunday included a last-minute Supreme Court ruling that extended voting by two hours. Gulf News reported that Lula requested the extension, alleging that buses had been removed from circulation in various cities to prevent citizens from voting, while Bolsonaro's camp also requested extensions in some areas due to heavy rains.

Lula’s upcoming term, which begins in January, faces various economic challenges. Investing.com reports that Brazil's public debt has risen to over 82% of GDP during Lula's current term. The report also notes that annual inflation stands at 4.6%, which is above the central bank's tolerance range of 1.5% to 4.5%.

Brief written by urgent.news from Toronto Sun, El Pais, Investing.com, Gulf News, Channel News Asia — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.