Lula supporters fill Rio beach before Brazil’s presidential runoff

Tens of thousands of supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gathered on Rio de Janeiro’s beachfront on Saturday, seeking to rally support before a closely contested presidential runoff. The leftwing incumbent faces far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s election, after finishing behind him in the first round.

Nearly 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in the deciding contest on October 25. The Guardian reported that the candidates were tied in opinion polls, setting up an uncertain finish after Bolsonaro took about 47% of the first-round vote on October 4, against Lula’s 45%.

The gathering brought Lula’s supporters together in a conspicuous display of backing on the campaign’s final weekend. Their hope is that the mobilisation will help the president reverse the first-round result, although the size of a rally cannot establish how the wider electorate will vote.

The first-round outcome left Bolsonaro ahead but short of the majority required to win outright. Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court explains that a presidential election proceeds to a runoff between the two leading candidates when neither receives more than half of valid votes, giving voters a direct choice between the finalists.

For Lula, the contest is a bid to extend a political career that has already included three presidential terms. According to Brazil’s Senate news agency, he first won the presidency in 2002, secured re-election and left office in 2010, before returning to power in 2023 after defeating Jair Bolsonaro.

His challenger is a senator representing Rio de Janeiro and a member of the Liberal Party, according to the Senate’s account of the candidates. Flávio Bolsonaro is making his first presidential bid, bringing the Bolsonaro family back into a contest for the country’s highest office against Lula and his Workers’ Party.

The Senate news agency reported that Flávio’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, chose him as the party’s candidate. It also noted that the elder Bolsonaro had been declared ineligible by the electoral court and subsequently convicted by the Supreme Court over an attempted coup, providing important background to his son’s candidacy.

Saturday’s mobilisation therefore came before a vote carrying significance beyond the president’s immediate attempt at re-election. Voters will decide whether Lula remains in office or whether the presidency passes to his opponent, while the reported polling tie offers no clear basis for declaring either candidate the likely winner.

The decision now moves from campaign gatherings to the ballot box. Sunday’s runoff will determine whether Lula can overcome his first-round deficit or Bolsonaro can convert his initial lead into victory; until votes are counted, the beachfront turnout remains a demonstration of support rather than a measure of the national result.