Bloomberg Línea — Elected with 50.90% of the valid votes in a very tight race with President Jair Bolsonaro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivered his first speech as president-elect in a hotel on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo on Sunday night (30).
In a 15-minute speech, the former president said that he didn’t face a candidate or an opponent, but rather “the Brazilian state machine at the service of the situation. And he congratulated not only the nearly 60 million voters who voted for him but also the nearly 58 million who voted for Bolsonaro.
He also said that he will govern the 215 million Brazilians.
“The election brought two opposing projects and there’s only one great winner: the Brazilian people. This is not a victory for me, for the PT, or for the parties that supported me in this campaign. It represents the victory of a huge democratic movement”, said the president-elect.
The PT leader thanked the support of Senator Simone Tebet (MDB), who was present, as well as the vice-president Geraldo Alckmin, former president Dilma Rousseff, the candidate for governor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad (defeated by Tarcísio de Freitas), Marina Silva, and Gleisi Hoffmann, among others.
“They tried to bury me alive and I resurrected,” he said.
Lula highlighted in his speech a message of unification of the country, saying that “there are not two Brazils”. He said his main commitment when he takes office in January 2023 will be “to end hunger all over again.”
He stated repeatedly that it will be necessary to “rebuild the country in all its dimensions,” citing the need for coexistence within Brazilian families, even if there are different partisan preferences. He also mentioned coexistence among the three powers and the re-establishment of dialogue between the people and the government, mentioning a country “divided” in two.
Referring to the foreign arena, Lula cited the relevance of cooperation with other countries, the integration of Latin America, and the strengthening of the G20.
Addressing his economic priorities, Lula said he will work to regain credibility for investors to regain confidence in Brazil, in addition to resuming partnerships with the United States and the European Union.
