Lula’s Fourth Term Gives Bolsonaro a New Hobby: Refusing Results

Lula clinches a fourth term; Bolsonaro vows to annul it – the drama that’s keeping the world on its toes.

In a surprise runoff, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured an unprecedented fourth term as Brazil’s president just two days before his 81st birthday. His opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, refused to accept defeat and said he would seek to annul the result. European leaders, notably EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the outcome, declaring that “democracy and multilateralism have won in Brazil.”

Brazil’s electoral commission confirmed the count, and Bolsonaro’s campaign has taken up a new hobby: drafting legal challenges.