Who is Lula Da Silva — Brazil's next President and far-left leader

Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of the leftist Worker's Party defeated incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election to become the country's next president. While ex-military man Bolsonaro has garnered a reputation for his outspoken comments, far-right ideology, and his anti-science and anti-environment policies, here's what you need to know about da Silva.

Luiz Inácio da Silva or more commonly known as Lula in Brazil was the former president of Brazil and held office between 2003 and 2010. A founding member of the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT), Lula is a former union leader-turned-politician.

Born in 1945, in Caetés, Pernambuco, Brazil, Lula went on to become one of the most popular politicians in Brazil and defined Brazil's policies for a decade.

The former shoe-shiner and factory worker started his political journey when he joined the labour movement in Brazil, steadily rising through the ranks until he was twice elected president of the Steel Workers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo and Diadema, a powerful workers union in one of the most industrialised areas of the country. Lula was instrumental in organising strikes and other important union activities at a time when Brazil was ruled by the military. He then became one of the founding members of the left-wing Workers Party in 1980. In 1986, a year after the collapse of the military government, Lula was elected a member of Congress with the most votes nationwide.

Despite his popularity, Lula ran thrice for the position of the country's president before he was finally elected for the first time in 2003. His ambitious social welfare policies like Bolsa Família and Fome Zero were aimed at combating poverty and hunger, with the goal being to lift the Brazilian working class.

Lula was also responsible for helping Brazil play a bigger role on the international stage, having taken involvement in matters like the Iran Nuclear Deal and climate change.

But Lula's presidency was marred by corruption scandals, which tarnished his image and came back to haunt him. In 2017, Lula was convicted of money laundering and corruption in a trial, resulting in a punishment of nine and a half years of imprisonment. The judge presiding over the trial would go on to become Bolsonaro's Minister of Justice and Public Security. Lula spent over a year in prison and tried to fight in the 2018 elections while on appeal but was unable to due to Brazilian laws.

However, in 2021 the Brazilian Supreme Court overturned and annulled the judgements against Lula due to the initial trial being presided over by a biased judge, resulting in Lula getting a clean chit.

Lula now has under a month to convince more people to vote for him at a time when Brazilian politics has become increasingly divisive and acrimonious.