Lula faces tough to-do list

GBNEWS24DESK//

A tense Brazil awaited Jair Bolsonaro’s next move yesterday, as the far-right incumbent remained silent after losing a razor-thin runoff presidential election to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — who now faces a tough to-do list.

The country now faces two long months until inauguration day on January 1, after Bolsonaro’s defeat by Lula with a score of 51 percent to 49 percent — the tightest race since Brazil returned to democracy after its 1964-1985 military dictatorship.

Fresh off a huge victory party that capped a remarkable political comeback, ex-president Lula — now president-elect — faces the less-pleasant business of a messy, high-risk transition process.

Bolsonaro’s radio silence after the polarizing election Sunday left Brazilians on edge, after months of the ex-army captain alleging election fraud and a supposed conspiracy against him. Lula criticized his nemesis for not acknowledging the result.

“Anyplace else in the world, the defeated president would have called me to recognize his defeat. He hasn’t called yet. I don’t know if he will,” he said in his victory speech to a euphoric sea of red-clad supporters in Sao Paulo.

The lights went out at the presidential residence in Brasilia Sunday night with no word from the leader.

“Lula will have to watch out… for any challenge Bolsonaro and his allies make to delegitimize his win and mobilize his supporters, like Trump in the United States” after his 2020 election loss, said political scientist Paulo Calmon of the University of Brasilia.

But with some key Bolsonaro allies — including the speaker of Congress Arthur Lira — acknowledging the incumbent’s defeat, the president did not look to have strong backing in the halls of power to challenge the result.

Lula said he would work to heal a nation wounded by a bitter campaign. But, easier said than done. “Lula will have to show a lot of political skill to pacify the country,” said political scientist Leandro Consentino of Insper University.