Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has committed to ramping up his campaign efforts after trailing Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential election. With nearly all the votes counted, Bolsonaro garnered approximately 47% of the vote compared to Lula’s 45%, setting the stage for a runoff on October 25.
Lula expressed surprise at the first-round results and called on the over 30 million Brazilians who abstained from voting to participate in the runoff. He criticized Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, over allegations of organized crime and corruption, while emphasizing his own extensive political experience as a qualification for leadership.
The focus of Lula’s runoff campaign will be on education, research, technology, and industrial development. He has pledged to maintain investment in universities, federal institutes, and secondary education, as well as to expand the Pé-de-Meia programme, which aims to reduce school dropout rates.
As the second-round campaign unfolds, both candidates are expected to concentrate on attracting voters who supported candidates eliminated in the first round, as well as those who did not vote at all.