Hailed by President Obama as “[t]he most popular politician on earth,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil is stepping down from his post after two terms following the Oct. 31 election of Dilma Rousseff, whom the president endorsed as his successor.Barred by the constitution from seeking a consecutive third term, President Lula has promoted economic growth and prosperity over the past eight years. Consequently, he and his administration are experiencing an 80% approval rating, which played a major role in this year’s presidential election. Brazillians effectively chose to overlook the fact that President Lula’s endorsed candidate has little experience in an effort to maintain the status quo. This near-sighted move may prove to be problematic in the future for Latin America’s largest country.
Rousseff, a member of the ruling Workers’ Party candidate, has never held an elected position—or even run for one before this year. She served in the Lula administration first as the minister of energy then as his chief of staff. Yet she won with 56% of the vote, besting her opponent José Serra of the Social Democratic Party by over twelve million votes. Serra is a former mayor of São Paulo, the country’s largest city, and a former governor of the São Paulo state, the country’s largest state.
It is clear that Serra possesses greater executive experience. Furthermore, Serra’s and Rousseff’s stances on social and economic issues are similar. So, to oversimply the election, it was a choice between ideologically identical candidates, except one actually ran a government. It is no wonder that Serra received the Financial Times’ endorsement, which even outlines differences that make Serra the better candidate (namely his position on the budget and foreign policy)
In the end, what made the difference was not Serra’s past elected positions or Rousseff’s inexperience, but President Lula. He played an instrumental part in her campaign, treating it like his own re-election effort. Rousseff took advantage of this situation and promised that she would continue his economic policies and lead Brazil forward, popular rhetoric that managed to woo voters.
The citizens did express a brief moment of hesitation throughout this electoral process during last month’s first round of voting. Rousseff failed to win the presidency outright, with her 47% stake—just short of the 50% threshold needed to win. This prompted a second round of voting that ultimately proved to be a small obstacle for the Rousseff/Lula juggernaut.
With all the votes now tallied, it is time for President-elect Rousseff to start planning for her term and the future. Despite the advances made over the past few years, Brazil still faces a host of challenges, including education and economic innovation. Those who voted for Serra may even say that a president without any elected experience running the country is another.
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