30th of October, 2022. Regional News. Brazil. GSA News. Guyana News.
Last updated: October 30, 2022 at 22:14 pmLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president of Brazil this Sunday (30th) with 59,845,508 votes – equivalent to 50.87% of valid votes. On January 1, 2023, he assumes his third non-consecutive term at the head of the Palácio do Planalto and becomes the politician most times taken to the command of the Executive Power by direct vote in the history of the Republic.
Current President Jair Bolsonaro, candidate for re-election, won 57,839,736 votes — 49.13% of the valid ones. In the first round, which took place on October 2, Lula had obtained 48.4% of the votes, against 43.2% for Bolsonaro.
Lula was born in Garanhuns (PE) on October 27, 1945. At the age of seven, he migrated with his family to Santos (SP). He worked in metallurgy industries and was president of the Metalworkers Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. He led strikes in the ABC Paulista region during the military dictatorship and, in 1980, participated in the founding of the Workers’ Party (PT).
Lula was federal deputy for São Paulo (1987-1991) and ran for the Presidency of the Republic three times (1989, 1994 and 1998) until he was elected (2002) and re-elected (2006). He is considered the most popularly approved president in the country’s history. PT’s mandates were marked by economic growth and social ascension for a large part of the population.
Lula also had to deal with accusations of irregularities and corruption in his first two terms as president. In April 2018, he was convicted of corruption, arrested and prevented from running for President of the Republic based on the Clean Record Law. He spent 580 days in a Federal Police cell in Paraná. In April 2021, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) overturned Lula’s convictions, and he regained political rights.
Lula was married to Maria de Lourdes da Silva and to Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, having been a widower of both marriages. Father of five children, he is currently married to sociologist Rosângela da Silva, Janja.
Geraldo Alckmin
The vice president elected on Lula’s ticket is Geraldo Alckmin (PSB). Born in Pindamonhangaba (SP), on November 7, 1952, Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho is an anesthesiologist and professor. He began his political career in 1973, when he assumed the position of councilor in his hometown.
Between 1977 and 1982, he was mayor of Pindamonhangaba. He also served as state deputy (1983-1987) and federal deputy (1987-1995). Alckmin was governor of São Paulo for two periods: from 2001 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2018, being the politician who has commanded the government of São Paulo for the longest time since the redemocratization of Brazil.
He tried for the Presidency of the Republic in 2006 and 2018, but was not elected. In March 2022, he migrated from the PSDB to the PSB, to be a candidate for vice president on the ticket headed by Lula.
Alckmin has been married since 1979 to Maria Lúcia Guimarães Ribeiro Alckmin, better known as Lu Alckmin. The couple had three children: Sophia, Geraldo and Thomaz. The latter died in a helicopter crash in April 2015.
Source: Agência Senado
