Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won the Brazilian election, narrowly beating Jair Bolsonaro, official figures show.
It has been Brazil’s most polarised election in recent memory, pitting far-right incumbent President Bolsonaro against leftist former leader Lula da Silva.
On his victory, Mr da Silva tweeted a simple picture of his hand over the Brazilian flag and the word: “Democracy.”
It is a stunning return to power for Mr da Silva, 77, whose 2018 imprisonment over a corruption scandal sidelined him from that year’s election, paving the way for then-candidate Mr Bolsonaro’s win and four years of far-right politics.
Mr da Silva’s convictions were annulled, but he faced an uphill battle, when he decided to re-run for president, with many millions of Brazilians continuing to believe he was corrupt.
After his victory was announced, he said: “They tried to bury me alive, and I’m here!”
And in his first speech to the nation as president-elect, he vowed his most urgent commitment would be to “end hunger” in Brazil.
His victory marks the first time since Brazil’s 1985 return to democracy that the sitting president has failed to win reelection.
