Brazil Election: Who Is Lula Da Silva, The Leftist Former President Who Defeated Jair Bolsonaro?

Lula da Silva on Sunday emerged as the winner of the presidential contest in Brazil, defeating sitting President Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula won narrowly by less than 2 per cent votes more than Bolsonaro. Despite the narrow margin, the election is considered to be decisive as the two leaders presented vastly different vision for the country.

While Bolsonaro is on the far right of ideological spectrum, Lula is a Leftist and unionist with a track record of social welfare measures in the country. The election also divided Brazil as the highly-partisan contest witnessed divisive voting patterns.

Here we explain who is Da Silva, what's his electoral promises, and why the just-concluded election is so decisive for Brazil.

Who is Lula Da Silva?

Lula's complete name is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He was President of Brazil twice earlier during 2003-11.

Lula secured 50.9 per cent of votes against 49.1 per cent secured by Bolsonaro. The election saw large voter turn-out and Lula secured highest votes ever, and the margin is so narrow, suggesting how closely-contested the election was.

Lula was born on October 27, 1945, in Garanhuns, Brazil. His parents were sharecropping farmers.

During his growing-up years, Lula worked as a shoe-shine boy, street vendor, and factory worker, according to Britannica Encyclopaedia.

Lula worked in a factory until 1972 when he left his job to pursue union politics full-time. He was elected the President of Metalworkers' Union in 1975. In this capacity, he challenged the economic policies of the then-military regime of Brazil and campaigned for workers' rights.

"That post [Union President] brought him national attention as he launched a movement for wage increases in opposition to the military regime's economic policy. The campaign was highlighted by a series of strikes from 1978 to 1980 and culminated in Lula's arrest and indictment for violations of the National Security Law," says Britannica.

Lula founded the Workers Party and first ran for political office in 1982.

Notably, Lula is the first Brazilian President to come from a worker background. Moreover, he is also the first with no formal high education.

Lula da Silva's political journey

Lula unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 1989, 1994, and 1998, before finally becoming president in 2003. He secured 61.3 per cent of votes then.

Lula's background at first made several sections of Brazil, including the country's elites, uneasy, but it also appealed to many.

"His unpolished Portuguese, lack of formal education, and the socialist platform of the Workers Party he represented scared many among the elite, while his charisma and humble background endeared him to many among lower and middle classes," notes a biography on Brown University's website.

Prior to his first presidency, Lula led national efforts in favour of direct elections for president, organising mass demonstrations in state capitals in 1983-84, according to Britannica, adding that Lula was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies in 1986 as a federal deputy from São Paulo.

In 2002, Lula moderated his stance a bit and broadened support for businesses.

"In the 2002 presidential election, he adopted a more pragmatic platform. Although he remained committed to encouraging grassroots participation in the political process, he also courted business leaders and promised to work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet fiscal targets," noted Britannica.

The presidency of Lula da Silva (2003-11)

The presidency of Lula during 2003-11 saw some degree of continuation and introduction of new programs which brought out milliions from poverty and increased economic growth.

While Lula continued the IMF program initiated under his predecesser, he also introduced new schemes. One such internationally-acclaimed scheme is the Programa Bolsa Família (PBF).

The PBF is a conditional cash transfer (CTT) scheme which provided cash to Brazilian families upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.

The conditions included:

Teenage children going to school
Vaccination of children
Monitoring for pregnant women
Remedial education for children
Avoiding child labour

The scheme proved to be very impactful. Together with Social Pensions sheme, it accounted for a 58 per cent decline in extreme poverty, a 30 per cent decline in poverty, and a 41 per cent fall in inequality between 2004-14, according to World Bank, which added that the PBF scheme rose school attendance of teenagers to 91 per cent.

While there was this visible social and economic progress, there were also allegations of corruption that brought down Lula and plagued him in later years.

Lula was succeeded as President of Brazil by his Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff. During Rousseff's second tenure, a corruption scandal enveloped her government, her and Lula's Workers Party, and later Lula himself.

The corruption conviction and Lula's downfall

Shortly after Rousseff was re-elected in 2014, allegations emerged that millions of dollars were given to government and party officials in bribes.

"Dozens of high-level businesspeople and politicians were indicted as part of the widespread investigation into the scandal. In August 2015, the list of those arrested expanded to include José Dirceu, who had served as chief of staff for Lula from 2003-05," notes Britannica.

In 2016, Lula was also accused of money laundering. His house was raided and he was picked for questioning. Within a year, he, his wife, and six others were facing six corruption cases.

In 2017, Lula was convicted and was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He spent a total of 580 days in jail, according to CNN.

The presidency of Jair Bolsonaro

Lula's downfall coincided with the rise of Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who was also compared with Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro became President of Brazil in 2018 on a far-right socially conservative platform. As president, he pursued support for farmers, ranchers, beef exporters, and favoured privatisation, and oversaw the destruction of Amazon rainforests for industry, particularly for cattle farming.

As a far-right socially conservative, Bolsonaro also supported anti-abortion forces and anti-LGBTQ forces in the country also felt emboldened. As a result, not just those disgruntled by left wing corruption but also conservative religious groups rallied behind him.

Under Bolsonaro, the democratic credentials of Brazil also fell as he clamped down on free speech and political and other personal freedoms.

Prior to results, political scientists Guilherme Casarões told Vox, "[If victorious] Bolsonaro will be able to control Congress, he will try to pack the courts, he will try to impeach some justices that have become his enemies. The horizon really looks like Hungary. If Lula wins, this is going to energize the political system in such a way that it will probably be a little bit more resilient."

Bolsonaro also led Brazil's mis-management of Covid-19 pandemic in the country and peddled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. He infamously said that you could become a crocodile if you get vaccination. Brazil ended up being among the worst-hit countries in the pandemic.

Contrary to the poverty alleviation during Lula's tenure, around 9.6 million people fell into poverty during 2019-21 in Brazil, as per CNN, which added that school attendance also fell — stark reversal of gains made in the decade before.

Lula walked out of prison in 2019 and his sentence was anulled by the Supreme Court of Brazil in 2021, paving way for his political comeback.

Why Brazil's presidential election was crucial?

The election was crucial because it would decide which direction the country would go.

Lula and Bolsonaro presented very different visions for Brazil, reflecting the differences in their approach to politics, society, and governance.

These are the promises made by the two leaders:

By Lula:

Priority to tackle low growth, inequality, and hunger crisis
Increase in conditional cash transfer scheme
Expansion of housing scheme
Removal of policies of Bolsonaro opening Amazon rainforests to logging
Tax remove and increase in minimum wage
Expansion of electricity and running water access to rural areas

By Bolsonaro:

Tackle crime, corruption, and low economic growth
Oppose abortion, transgender rights, and legalised drugs,
Support more open-market economy and the privatisation

How Lula da Silva defeated Jair Bolsonaro?

Lula went beyond his leftist support base and put together a coalition of leftists as well as moderates.

Lula also banked on the goodwill of his previous administrations.

The coalition built by Lula also includes some right wing leaders opposed to Bolsonaro's rule, according to CNN.

It reports, "He has built a broad alliance including several politicians from the center and center-right, including historical opponents from the PSDB, Brazil’s Social Democrat Party. Among these politicians is his vice-president, former São Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin, who has been cited by the Lula camp as a guarantee of moderation in his administration."

Despite his promises and past record, Lula received criticism for not properly outlining how he plans to reduce hunger and achieve other promises.

Challenges to Lula presidency

There is the obvious challenge in the form of the state of the country Lula would get. The Guardian reports 33 million face acute hunger and 100 million live in poverty, the highest in years.

There is also the continued threat from Bolsonaro, who has not yet conceded defeat.

Despite the electoral authorities declaring Lula as the winner, Bolsonaro has not conceded and he has also peddled conspiracy theories about election integrity like former US President Donald Trump. There is a section of political observers who fear a United States-like movement led by Bolsonaro that defies election results.

"For months, he claimed the nation's electronic voting machines are prone to fraud, though he never presented evidence," reported Sky News of Bolsanaro.