MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“The end of the PT era is decreed,” says Flávio Bolsonaro after winning the first round

The senator pledged to cut the number of ministries and end presidential re-election, a measure that would require a constitutional amendment; he said one term would be enough for him

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro celebrated his first-round victory in Brazil's presidential election in Brasília with a message focused on change. “Change, the word is change. Brazil can't take any more. The end of the PT era is decreed,” he told reporters outside his campaign headquarters.

With almost 99% of votes counted, the Liberal Party candidate took 47.08% of valid votes to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 45.10%, so the two will face each other in the October 25 runoff. Bolsonaro thanked “almost 56 million” voters and hit back at the pollsters: “The polling institutes had us behind and we grew.” The final Datafolha survey had given Lula 45% and Bolsonaro 42% of valid votes, and AtlasIntel 47% to 44.1%. In 2022, polls also underestimated Jair Bolsonaro's first-round vote.

The senator pledged to cut the number of ministries and end presidential re-election, a measure that would require a constitutional amendment; he said one term would be enough for him. He also said he would appoint at least four justices to the Supreme Federal Court, the same court that sentenced his father to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup. Those appointments depend on vacancies arising and require Senate approval.

Bolsonaro described Lula's government as a series of “records” in violence against women, taxes and business closures, campaign claims the government rejects. Lula, for his part, questioned his rival's record and linked him to the Banco Master case, in which the senator is under investigation without formal charges.