Brazil: On Sunday, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president for the third time after defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro’s reelection campaign. In a strongly polarised country, his return to power is the conclusion of a political comeback that is delighting supporters while enraging opponents.
“Our message to Brazil is one of hope and reconstruction,” Lula stated during a speech in Congress’ Lower House after signing the document that formally establishes him as president.
“The great edifice of rights, sovereignty and development that this nation built has been systematically demolished in recent years. And to re-erect this edifice, we are going to direct all our efforts.”
Tens of thousands of protestors took part in the triumph march
The party was going on in Brasilia’s major esplanade on Sunday afternoon. Tens of thousands of supporters dressed in the crimson of Lula’s Workers’ Party applauded following his inauguration. They also rejoiced when the president announced that he would send a report on Bolsonaro’s administration to authorities, who could then examine the far-right leader based on their findings.
According to political commentators, Lula’s presidency will be unlike his previous two, as it follows the tightest presidential contest in more than three decades in Brazil and opposition to his taking office by some of his opponents.
Bolsonaro was lost by less than two percentage points in the October 30 election. Bolsonaro had sowed questions about the reliability of Brazil’s electronic vote for months, and his devoted fans were hesitant to accept defeat.
Since then, many people have congregated outside military installations, doubting the results and begging with the armed forces to keep Lula from gaining office.
His most ardent supporters resorted to what some authorities and incoming officials of Lula’s administration labelled “terrorism,” something the country had not seen since the early 1980s, prompting security fears regarding inauguration day activities.
“In 2003, the ceremony was very beautiful. There wasn’t this bad, heavy climate,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Sao Paulo’s Insper University, referring to Lula’s first year in power. “Today, it’s a climate of terror.”
Lula has made it his mission to unite the country. But he will have to do it while negotiating more difficult economic conditions than he did during his first two terms, when the global commodities boom was a boon to Brazil.
His administration’s biggest welfare programme at the time assisted in lifting tens of millions of destitute people into the middle class. Many Brazilians visited other countries for the first time. He departed office with an 83% personal approval rating.
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Brazil’s economy would be the most difficult challenge for the newly elected president.
In the years afterwards, Brazil’s economy has seen two deep recessions, the first during the tenure of his designated successor, and the second during the pandemic, and ordinary Brazilians have suffered greatly.
Lula has stated that eliminating poverty and investing in education and health care are his top goals. He has also stated that he will put an end to unlawful deforestation in the Amazon. He sought the assistance of political moderates in order to establish a broad front and beat Bolsonaro, and subsequently appointed some of them to his Cabinet.
Cladio Arantes, a 68-year-old pensioner, was walking to the Esplanade with an old Lula campaign flag. The loyal Lula admirer, who attended his inauguration in 2003, agreed that this time is different.
“Back then, he could talk about Brazil being united. Now it is divided and won’t heal soon,” Arantes said. “I trust his intelligence to make this national unity administration work so we never have a Bolsonaro again.”
Given the country’s political fault lines, it’s unlikely Lula would ever regain his former popularity, or even see his approval rating increase beyond 50%, according to Maurcio Santoro, a political science professor at Rio de Janeiro’s State University.
Furthermore, a broad corruption investigation, according to Santoro, has harmed Lula and his Workers’ Party’s credibility. Party officials, including Lula, were imprisoned until their convictions were overturned on procedural grounds. The Supreme Court then concluded that the judge presiding over the case had collaborated with prosecutors in order to get a conviction.
Bolsonaro’s supporters deny accepting Lula.
Lula and his supporters claim he was railroaded. Others were willing to overlook suspected wrongdoing in order to oust Bolsonaro and bring the country back together. However, Bolsonaro’s supporters would not allow the restoration of a criminal to the highest office. With tensions high, a succession of events has fueled fears that violence may erupt on inauguration day.
On December 12, dozens of individuals attempted to storm a federal police facility in Brasilia and set fire to automobiles and buses in other parts of town. Then, on Christmas Eve, police apprehended a 54-year-old man who admitted to building a bomb that was discovered on a gasoline truck heading to Brasilia’s airport.
Since November 12, he had been camped outside the army headquarters in Brasilia with hundreds of fellow Bolsonaro supporters.
According to extracts of his deposition obtained by local media, he told police he was ready for war against communism and planned the attack with persons he met at the protests. The next day, police discovered explosive devices and several bulletproof vests in a forested area on the borders of the federal district.
Flávio Dino, Lula’s incoming Justice Minister, called on federal authorities last week to put an end to the “antidemocratic” protests, labelling them “incubators of terrorists.”
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The Importance of Lula’s Victory
The current justice minister authorised the deployment of the national guard until January 2, in response to a request from Lula’s team, and Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes prohibited anyone from carrying firearms in Brasilia during these days. “This is the result of political polarisation, of political extremism,” Nara Pavo, a political science professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco, said. Pavo emphasised that Bolsonaro, who has virtually disappeared from the political landscape since losing his reelection effort, has been sluggish to denounce recent instances.
“His silence is strategic: Bolsonaro needs to keep Bolsonarismo alive,” Pavo explained.
Bolsonaro officially criticised the bomb plan in a farewell statement on social media on December 30, only hours before leaving to the United States.
His absence on inauguration day will be a departure from convention, and it is unknown who will pass over the presidential sash to Lula at the presidential palace in his place. Eduardo Coutinho, a lawyer, will be present. As a Christmas present to himself, he purchased a flight to Brasilia.
“I wish I were here when Bolsonaro’s plane took off, that is the only thing that makes me almost as happy as tomorrow’s event,” Coutinho, 28, said after singing Lula campaign jingles on the plane. “I’m not usually so over-the-top, but we need to let it out and I came here just to do that. Brazil needs this to move on.”
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