Brazil's presidential election goes to runoff

Janet Jaleel (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel, and in the early hours of Monday the 5th of October, these are our main stories. Brazil's election goes to a runoff after the right-wing challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, wins the first round, beating President Lula, but fails to get more than 50% of the vote. The US removes its bomber planes from an English airbase, which was recently alleged to be the target of a terror plot. Israel and British Jewish groups condemn the UK's Green Party for voting to define Zionism as a form of racism.

Also in this podcast, as tickets for Glastonbury sell out in less than an hour, we hear about the bizarre tactics some music fans use to try to jump the line.

Stephanie Prentiss (0:54)

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SPEAKER_3 (0:56)

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Janet Jaleel (1:02)

We begin in Brazil, where a bitter presidential election runoff is set to go ahead later this month after a right wing challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, finished ahead of the left wing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but fell short of the 50 percent needed for an outright victory in the first round. Mr Bolsonaro did better than the polls had predicted, gaining about 47 percent of the vote, meaning the second round could be his to lose. If he does win the runoff in three weeks time, he would become the latest in a succession of right wing leaders to come to power in Latin America. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, is currently serving a jail term under house arrest for attempting a coup after losing the last election four years ago to Mr Lula.

This time round, the president, who is 80, said he was surprised he was trailing his much younger challenger.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2:03)

The result is often unexpected. We never managed to get everything we wanted. I confess to you that I was convinced I was going to win the election in the first round. But we have a second round. And the second round is when we are really put to the test.

It's the moment for us to show the true picture of Brazil today and the Brazil we want. So starting tomorrow, we begin a new campaign.

Janet Jaleel (2:27)

I heard more from Ioni Wells, who's covered Latin America extensively and is following the elections from Washington.

Ioni Wells (2:35)

The polls leading up to this election certainly suggested that while it was incredibly close, President Lula da Silva was marginally ahead in most of those polls.

In reality, Flávio Bolsonaro has finished about two points or so ahead of President Lula, giving him really the momentum in that second round, not least because the other candidates who have been knocked out of this election that picked up a couple of percentages of the vote, some of those were also right-wing alternative candidates, and it's expected that some of their supporters could therefore go for Flávio Bolsonaro in a second round. I think it's also worth saying that not only has he come ahead in this presidential race, but also there has been this big conservative wave in Congress with his party electing so far more senators, deputies, governors than other parties in Brazil, meaning that if he were to win that second round, he would return with a very powerful base essentially of lawmakers around the country.

Janet Jaleel (3:37)

But at the same time, he's still got to win the second round now, as you say. We're talking about two very different men here with two very different visions for Brazil.

Ioni Wells (3:46)

Yes, that's right. Lula and Bolsonaro are two of the biggest names in Brazilian politics, one very firmly on the left, one very firmly on the right. That's why this campaign has been incredibly polarizing. President Lula has really defined his presidency with large social welfare programs that he introduced in his first term, which have been credited with lifting millions of people out of poverty. He's increased the number of universities in Brazil.

He has reduced the rate of deforestation in the Amazon. But he has struggled at times with voter concerns about things like crime, about the economy, inflation, high levels of personal debt, high interest rates, which have all been quite significant headwinds during this campaign. Flávio Bolsonaro, for his part, has promised a tough crackdown on crime, including building mega prisons, including designating Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations, but also a closer alignment with the United States, something which President Lula has really been quite hesitant of. He's accused the US of trying to interfere repeatedly in Brazilian affairs, whether that be on the economy, with things like the US tariffs against Brazil, or whether it be on issues of security, given Flávio Bolsonaro lobbied the US to designate Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations earlier this year.