29 October 2018
Speaking after the results of the Brazilian elections were announced and the victory of far-right Jair Bolsonaro, the former candidate for the Presidency of Brazil for the Workers’ Party (PT), Fernando Haddad, indicated that he will use his political gains to work for the social unification of the Brazilian people.
“We, who helped build one of the largest democracies in the world, are committed to maintaining it, and not accepting provocations, not accepting threats,” Haddad told his supporters Sunday night.
The former candidate of the PT said that Brazilians must aspire for a great social movement to defend the freedoms and rights of Brazilians.
The leader of the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), Joao Pedro Stedile, argues that the PT and the other leftist organizations must build up strength and organize the people to face the future government of Jair Bolsonaro.
According to Stedile, if the neoliberal agenda of the new government is materialized, it will generate a social chaos that will allow the popular movements to resume the offensive and mass mobilizations.
The social leader warned that the political left and social organizations have the challenge of organizing popular committees throughout Brazil in order to move towards a new debate in the country, on a new sovereign project for an egalitarian and just society.
Both Haddad and Stedile acknowledge that after losing the second round of elections, the social movements should be reunited in order to create a great national movement that will allow them to face Bolsonaro’s policies and return to power in Brazil.
After the results of the first electoral round on Oct. 7, Haddad maintained a sustained growth that led him to receive around 45 million votes in the ballot on Sunday.
In the first round, the then PT candidate won 28 percent of the vote compared to the 46 percent scored by far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.
