12 December 2022, NIICE Commentary 8432
Binu Joseph

General elections in Brazil were held on October 2, 2022, for the offices of the President, Vice President, Governors, Vice-governors, National Congress, Legislative Assemblies of federal units, and the district council of Fernando de Noronha. However, in the first round of voting for the Office of President of Brazil, no candidate could secure more than half of the valid votes. Hence, on October 30, 2022, a runoff election was conducted for the president’s office. The leading Presidential candidates were former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from the Worker’s Party and the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro from the Liberal Party. When the final result was declared, former President Lula da Silva could secure 50.9 percent of the votes against 49.1 percent of votes secured by Jair Bolsonaro. Despite the narrow margin of victory, Lula da Silva is considered a well-recognised leader among the Brazilian people. While in a speech after the final election result came out, da Silva said, “Today the winner is Brazilian people, it is the victory of democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious”. His popularity has also been acknowledged at the global level. During the G20 meeting in London in 2009, US President Barack Obama called him “the most popular politician on Earth.”

Lula da Silva Back to Power

It is da Silva’s third presidential term at the office. In the past, he has served as the President of Brazil in 2002 and 2006. Previously, he had contested for Presidential in 1989, 1994, and 1998 but was defeated.  He intended to run for the President in 2018, but was not allowed to contest due to convictions on corruption and money laundering charges and the subsequent arrest in 2017. After 580 days of imprisonment, a Brazilian court annulled the convictions against him and restored all his political rights. The victory of da Silva gives much expectation to the Brazilian people because of his stance on the various pertaining issues in Brazil. And the opposite stands from the incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro also helped him to win the election. Both candidates had put forward divergent views on various issues. The leftist approach of da Silva was indeed questioning the far-right policies of Jair Bolsonaro. Lula da Silva’s policies prioritised tackling hunger, a low economic growth rate, and inequality. And much attention was also given to socialist approaches such as housing schemes, direct cash transfer schemes, and increasing minimum wages. On the contrary, Bolsonaro favours far-right policies such as opposing abortion, transgender rights, legalising drugs, and supports for privatisation and opening up of free markets. And his approach also emphasised tackling corruption, crime, and the low economic growth rate. Nevertheless, Bolsonaro’s liberal approaches did not get much recognition from the Brazilian communities. Instead, da Silva could gain winning support from various sections beyond leftists. The election result was also a recognition of his previous pro-people welfare measures. One of the globally acclaimed schemes introduced under da Silva’s presidency was Programa Bolsa Família (PBF). It was a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme aimed at gradually eradicating poverty by directly transferring money into the hands of families. This scheme has proved very impactful by increasing teenage school attendance, reducing extreme poverty by 58 percent, and reducing inequality by 41 percent. Moreover, his initiatives for environmental protection measures have received great acceptance at both the national and international levels. Environmentalists, scientists, and others are optimistic about his victory because of his stance on biodiversity conservation, low carbon emissions, deforestation, and Amazon rainforest protection. He has also called for international cooperation regarding the protection of the Amazon rainforest. At the international level, da Silva’s orientation is more aligned with South-South cooperation than North-South cooperation. One of his top diplomatic priorities is to forge new cooperation among developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in order to tackle poverty, environmental issues, and trade imbalances. He also played a pioneering role in associating Brazil with regional forums such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Russia), IBSA (India, Brazil, and South Africa), the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and other international and regional forums. And in these organisations, Brazil is a responsible and leading member in order to obtain the objectives that are set forth.

Relationship with India

After the election result came out, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, congratulated Lula da Silva. In a tweet, Prime Minister Modi said that “I look forward to working closely together to further deepen and widen our bilateral relations, as also our cooperation on global issues”. Ever since he became the president of Brazil, he could establish a stable and cordial relationship with India. The relationship was a comprehensive one at both bilateral and international forums. As developing countries, the problems and prospects are the same for both the countries. Both countries are committed to forging a new world order based on South-centric as an alternative to North-centric. International forums such as BRICS and IBSA are prime examples of the cooperation of both the countries at the international level in order to fulfil their aspirations. India and Brazil have been arguing for decades on international platforms for reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by including both countries as its permanent members. However, some diplomatic experts have already opined that the objectives of both countries will be achieved in the near future, and both countries are looking forward to their permanent membership in the UNSC in the coming decades. Brazil is currently one of India’s most important Latin American trading partners. However, comparing the India-Brazil trading partnership with that of other countries such as the USA and China, is very narrow. Both countries need to rejuvenate their commercial relationship and open newer areas of trade cooperation. Presently, Indian investments are mainly in the areas of oil fields, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aluminum plants, auto parts, and IT. Likewise, Brazil’s investments are also coming to the sectors of electric motors, auto parts, and IT. Under da Silva’s coming tenure, the relationship between both countries is expected to gain new momentum. During the election campaign, da Silva stressed his desire to reach out to the world to boost foreign investment in Brazil. In this regard, it is good news for India as it can become a good destination for future commercial cooperation. Besides, da Silva’s environmentalist, socialist, and globalist views are similar to India’s approach, so India is optimistic about his Presidency in terms of stabilising current relationships and establishing future cooperation in more areas.

Now the world is looking at da Silva regarding how he is going to manage domestic and global issues. Currently, he is free from allegations of corruption. Nowadays, Brazil is facing many issues that stretch from poverty to the environment. Lula da Silva’s leftist and socialist policies might be a great means for Brazil to overcome its existing problems and become a leading global player.

Binu Joseph is a Research Scholar at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Pondicherry University, India.