A tale of two elections
Opposite results in two countries
Major elections were held in two countries this week. The first one was Brazil, where the Presidency was contested between the current President, Jair Bolsonaro, and ex President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The latter was declared as a winner. Parliamentary elections were held two days later in Israel, posing for the return of former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Lula’s winnery was based on the nostalgia of his rule, when Brazil had an economic boom; and his support for the poor people. Meanwhile, in Israel, the winnery of the far right came on the support of the ultranationalists, who have used anti Arab rhetoric, and advocated for the deportation of those deemed as “disloyal”.
Bolsonaro lost to his rival, who accounted for 50.9% of the votes, while he gained 49.1% of them. In the mean time, Netanyahu’s party, Likud, in Israel, earned 94.6% of the votes.
The Brazilian ruler promised last Monday to respect democracy, and begged his followers to go home, and not blocked roads. However, he did not recognize defeat, although he neither declared winnery. He congratulated his 58 million voters. His followers were blocking roads and protesting in many parts of the country. They also threatened to keep it that way, unless the army intervened. Bolsonaro welcomed peaceful protests, but not “the tactics of the left”, referring to “property invasion, destruction of heritage, and not allowing the right to go and come”. Truckers sympathizing with Bolsonaro have deemed the elections as fraudulent, and asked the army to carry out a coup.
Despite he criticized the left, one of his ministers mentioned they would hand power to the next administration. His followers consider Lula a criminal, and lost trust in the voting system and the election themselves. In previous months, Bolsonaro mentioned he did not trust the voting system. However, his closest allies began to congratulate Lula, starting to have close ups with him.
This election was the most hard fought in the South American country since democracy returned in 1985. Also, this is the first time Bolsonaro loses an election, as well as the first one a President is not reelected.
Some of the factors leading to Lula’s winnery were the nostalgia of the economic boom under his rule, and the mismanagement of the pandemic under Bolsonaro. The support of the poor was one of the main pillars of his campaign. Lula has been linked to social policies, while the pandemic revealed inequalities in Brazil. Fears for authoritarianism also led to Lula’s winnery. There was a perception of institutions and democracy being under threat under the right wing leader. Lula’s pragmatism also helped him to win. He managed to get centrists to vote for him, with the most significant gesture being appointing his former rival, center-right wing, Geraldo Ackmin, as Vice President.
Meanwhile, in Israel, the far-right Likud Party gained 64 seats. On the other hand, the party of the outgoing Prime Minister Lapid, Yesh Atid, gained 24 seats. The far right party, Religious Zionism, got to the third place with 14 seats. Shas and United Torah Judaism, partners of Netanyahu, got respectively 11 and 7 seats. National Unity, party of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, won 12 seats. Meanwhile, the Party of Finance Minister, Avigdon Lieberman, won 6 seats. Arab parties Hadash Ta’al and United Arab List, got 5 seats. The once ruling Labor Party, got 4 seats.
These news have not been welcomed through the world. Several countries have threatened to cut cooperation with a far right leaded Israel. Zehava Galon, the leader of leftist party Meretz, held herself responsible for the failure of her party. She added that the winnery of her rivals was a disaster for the country.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid has congratulated Netanyahu on his winnery.
The far-right winnery has been celebrated by religious people in Israel, claiming the security situation will improve under them. They also have praised Public Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted racist and anti Arab, for “wanting the terrorists out”. His crowd has chanted anti Arab slurs. Among other of his deeds, he inflamed tensions in Sheikh Jarrah by pointing a gun to a Palestinian.
In the end, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to his followers, mentioning that people want “a government that projects power, not weakness”.
We can see how opposite wing parties won elections this week. Both parties have now the challenge of dealing with their opposition and carrying out their own agendas. The far-right was defeated in a country, and won in another country. They also have to face the growing polarization in both countries.
Guillermo is a journalist, writer and independent international analyst. If you like what you read, please support him by donating:
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