Lula Wins Historic Fourth Presidential Term in Brazil... Bolsonaro Refuses to Accept Results

[Anchor]

Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won the runoff in Brazil's presidential election, making him the first four-time president in Brazilian history. Meanwhile, defeated candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has announced he will challenge the election results and demand they be nullified.

Reporter Kim Hye-young has the details.

[Reporter]

In Brazil's presidential runoff election, incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the left-wing Workers' Party defeated right-wing Liberal Party candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, securing his fourth term in office.

According to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, with 99.99 percent of the votes counted, President Lula garnered 51.78 percent of the vote, beating candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who received 48.22 percent, by a margin of 3.56 percentage points.

Having first been elected president in 2002, Lula secured his fourth presidential victory following his wins in 2006 and 2022, becoming the first four-time president in Brazilian history.

Notably, after trailing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro in the first round of the election, Lula staged a comeback victory in the runoff.

Born into poverty as a worker, Lula first gained recognition as a metalworkers union leader before founding the Workers' Party in 1980.

After three failed presidential bids, he was first elected in 2002, and later faced political turmoil, including imprisonment on corruption charges after leaving office.

However, he returned to power by defeating then-President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election, and has now defeated his son, Flavio, as well.

This victory is seen as putting the brakes on the recent right-wing governing trend across Latin America. However, the defeated candidate Flavio Bolsonaro stated that he would not accept the election results.

Flavio Bolsonaro argued that fairness among voters was compromised because the Supreme Federal Court extended voting hours by two hours.

However, local media reported that Flavio Bolsonaro's camp had previously requested an extension of voting hours in parts of the southern and southeastern regions, citing damage from heavy rain.

(Video Editing: Cho Mu-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.