“This is not my victory, is not only a victory of the Workers Party (PT), it was a victory of all women and men who love democracy,” Lula said in a crowded Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, where shouts of freedom were heard, amid a rainbow of flags and slogans shouted until early Monday.

Hoarsely due to successive speeches in the last days of the campaign, the former unionist pointed out that it is also the success of those who “resolved to free Brazil from authoritarianism.”

Generally, the president-elect sets up a transition cabinet and counts on the outgoing government’s collaboration to start the new mandate.

Lula also said he was “very excited because it was the most difficult war I faced,” referring to the attacks against him and fake news during the electoral campaign.

With almost 100 percent of the ballots counted, Lula received 50.90 percent of the valid votes, and President Jair Bolsonaro, who sought a reelection for the Liberal Party, got 49.10 percent.

Both politicians disputed the runoff because they did not achieve an absolute majority of votes in the first round on October 2, that is, more than half of the valid votes (excluding blank and null votes), as the Brazilian legislation establishes to be elected president.

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