Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

3 min read
4 November 2022 | 11:00 am CAT

Brazil has voted in its president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, after a 50.% victory over the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Photo credit: Reuters

“It was a very hard campaign,” Lula admitted to the crowds a few hours after his victory. “It wasn’t Lula against Bolsonaro; it was a campaign of democracy against barbarity,” he added.

Twenty years ago, Lula – a unionist, came to power promising colossal change to the people of Brazil. However, in 2018 he was charged over corruption scandals that disqualified him from running for the presidency. He was sent to prison, and his charges were later annulled, which allowed him to contest again.

Speaking to Radio Islam International on this week’s ASRI report, analyst Dr Imraan Buccus says Lula’s win significantly impacts poor people worldwide.

“He [Lula] was brought to power by social movements, by grassroots organisations, and on the other hand, Bolsonaro has been a complete right-wing president, and clearly, this is a moment of significance for many people around the world,” he says.

Brazil is a country that has been compared to South Africa due to a similarity in crime levels, unemployment etc., whereby Lula played a role in breaking down the barriers of inequality across the country.

“[Lula] has been working with progressive governments across the world to also counter US power, and we know that during his reign, he was a very close ally of Palestinian struggles,” says Dr Buccus.

However, Dr Buccus warns that even though Lula has come into power, the threat of the right still remains as authoritarian ruling in many parts of the world continues.

Listen to this week’s ASRI report here: