Brazil re-elects incumbent President with hope
In Sunday's presidential election, Brazil has voted for continuity overall, but beyond a point the mandate is also for a change in the ways of governance. On the one hand, the voters have brought incumbent President Dilma Rousseff back to power for a second term with a 51.6 per cent of the votes. This is also the fourth consecutive win for her left-leaning Workers' Party which has consistently held power since 2003 when the legendary luiz Inácio lula da Silva was sworn into office. Popularly known as lula, President da Silva re-invigorated the Brazilian economy and brought millions out of abject poverty. He led the country for two terms, and after the Workers' Party win in the 2010 general election, handed over the baton to Ms Rousseff. In the four years since then, Ms Rousseff has largely kept to the economic model put in place by her mentor. For the most part, this has worked in favour of Brazil, which is now one of the robust economies of the world and an important global player. However, the storyline has changed somewhat in the past two to three years. Ms Rousseff's macro-economic policies haven't delivered well enough, and the Brazilian Government's vast social welfare programme is fraying at the edges. Public spending is out of control. The country is technically in recession; unemployment is on the rise; and prices have skyrocketed. Corruption has also been another major factor that has taken a toll on the Rousseff regime, with the scandal involving state-run oil major Petrobas believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. Finally, the popular protests that somewhat marred the festivities of FIFA World Cup earlier this year stand proof of rising discontent against President Rousseff. The protests started in response to the Government's decision to hike bus, train and metro fares, but quickly grew into a large anti-corruption movement that included several other issues.
It is against this backdrop that Sunday's mandate must be viewed. Though Ms Rousseff has secured a clear majority, she won by a narrow margin — her opponent, Mr Aecio Neves of the Social Democratic Party, was trailing by less than three percentage points. Overall, Ms Rousseff won fewer votes than she did in the 2010 election. She will have to build a coalition Government as her party now has fewer seats in Congress. Brazil experts believe that it is the country's poorest of poor that pushed Ms Rousseff to victory. This segment feared losing its much-needed social benefits under a more fiscally conservative Government, which is what Mr Neves had promised. Notably, the Centre-Right politician had the support of Brazil's large middle class which has been critical of Ms Rousseff’s financial interventions, is worried about corruption and economic stagnation, and prefers a regime that is relatively more supportive of free markets and free enterprise.