Ruling party candidate has defeated rival Jose Serra in vote and will become Brazil's first
female president.
(November 01,Brasilia, Sri Lanka Guardian) Dilma Rousseff has won Brazil's presidential election and will become the first woman to lead the Latin American economic powerhouse.
Rousseff was declared winner of Sunday's poll by more than 10 percentage points, beating rival Jose Serra with 55.5 per cent of valid votes cast to his 44.5 per cent.
The 62 year-old former guerilla leader will be sworn in as the country's president on January 1 after running a campaign that highlighted her links to outgoing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Rousseff vowed on Sunday to eradicate poverty affecting 20 million people in her nation, in her first pledge as president-elect.
"I reiterate my fundamental promise: the eradication of poverty," the leftwinger said in her victory speech in Brasilia. "We must not rest while there are Brazilians going hungry."
"Eradicating extreme poverty is my goal. But I humbly ask for the support of all who can help the country bridge the gap dividing us and make us a developed nation."
Silva used his 80 per cent approval ratings to campaign for Rousseff, his former chief of staff and political protege.
Rousseff will take power in a nation on rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics.
"Her government will focus primarily on solving Brazil's bottlenecks," Fernando Pimentel, a close adviser to her campaign, said in a recent interview.
Competant technocrat
Rousseff never has held elected office and lacks the charisma that transformed Silva from a one-time shoeshine boy into one of the globe's most popular leaders.
In the 1960s she fought against the military dictatorship ruling Brazil in the 1960s, spending time in prison before studying economics and making a name for herself as a compentant technocrat.
She held a range of mid-level government posts before Silva made her his energy minister, chief of staff, and then named her as his political successor.
Silva has served two four-year terms and is barred by Brazil's constitution from running for a third. He has batted down chatter in Brazil's press that he is setting himself up for a new run at the presidency in 2014, which would be legally allowed.
That does not mean many voters don't want him to stay. "If Lula ran for president 10 times, I would vote for him 10 times," said Marisa Santos, a 43-year-old selling her homemade jewelry on a Sao Paulo street.
Rousseff's victory was not as straightforward as many predicted.
In the first round of the presidential election on October 3, Rousseff got 46.9 per cent of the votes, falling just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Serra finished second with 32.6 per cent.
Marina Silva, a former environment minister and no relation to the president, took 20 million votes, leaving Rousseff and Serra to scramble for her supporters during the second round
About 135 million voters were obliged to cast ballots on Sunday. Under Brazilian law, voting is mandatory for citizens between the ages of 18 and 70.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Profile: Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Rousseff plans to follow popular policies of outgoing president Lula if she becomes Brazil's first female leader.
[ Image: Brazil's president-elect Dilma Rousseff cries during the official announcement after winning the presidential election, in Brasilia October 31, 2010. Former guerrilla leader Rousseff won Brazil's presidential election in resounding fashion on Sunday after promising to stick to policies that have lifted millions from poverty and made Brazil one of the world's hottest economies.-Reuters]
Dilma Rousseff began her political career as a Marxist guerrilla, but Brazil's former cabinet chief - dubbed the 'iron lady' by some commentators - seems poised to become the first female to lead the world's 8th largest economy.
Rousseff, 62, has promised to continue the popular policies of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, her mentor from the left-leaning Workers Party and Brazil's outgoing president.
"After this great man, Brazil will be governed by a woman, a woman who will continue the Brazil of Lula," Rousseff said in June when Lula's ruling Workers Party officially launched her candidacy.
Known for her brusque political style, Rousseff has a reputation for publicly dressing down ministers, although she has recently attempted to soften her image.
'Strong woman'
"She's an extremely strong woman on one hand, whose posts normally in Brazil were identified with men, not women. Little by little she is working on showing other characteristics to be 'introduced' to different voters," Maria do Socorro Sousa Braga, a political analyst at the University of Sao Paulo, said.
Some changes to her image include replacing stern glasses with contact lenses, undergoing plastic surgery and adopting a more glamorous hairstyle.
Rousseff came to national prominence in 2005, when she was working as Brazil's energy minister.
A financing scandal hit the Workers Party, prompting several leading officials to resign and she became chief of the cabinet.
By 2007, Lula was promoting Rousseff as the "mother" of his government's plan to accelerate economic growth by investing massively in infrastructure projects.
The decision paid off, as Brazil has experienced sustained growth.
Though she does not share Lula's personal charisma, his support seems to have been enough to win over voters, especially poorer ones who have benefited from eight years of anti-poverty programmes instituted by Lula's government.
Early years
Rousseff was born in December 1947 in the southwestern state of Minas Gerais to a Bulgarian immigrant father and a Brazilian mother.
After becoming an active militant in an underground group seeking to overturn the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, she was arrested in January 1970 and sentenced to six years in prison.
After nearly three years behind bars, where she was tortured, she was released, at the end of 1972.
In 1980 she became involved in a leftist populist party, the Democratic Workers Party, but left them in 1986 to join the Workers Party.
Married twice, Rousseff has one daughter, Paula, and became a grandmother in September.
Last year, Rousseff admitted she was undergoing treatment for lymphatic cancer, which generated public sympathy. Her doctors said they believe she is now cured.
If elected, she will be tasked with preparing Brazil for major events, including the World Cup and the Olympics, which will require heavy infrastructure investment.
Abroad, a president Dilma will be seen as likely to continue Lula's diplomatic strategy of being friendly with all nations, including South American neighbours such as Venezuela and Bolivia, both of which take anti-US line.
[ Image: Brazil's president-elect Dilma Rousseff cries during the official announcement after winning the presidential election, in Brasilia October 31, 2010. Former guerrilla leader Rousseff won Brazil's presidential election in resounding fashion on Sunday after promising to stick to policies that have lifted millions from poverty and made Brazil one of the world's hottest economies.-Reuters]
Dilma Rousseff began her political career as a Marxist guerrilla, but Brazil's former cabinet chief - dubbed the 'iron lady' by some commentators - seems poised to become the first female to lead the world's 8th largest economy.
Rousseff, 62, has promised to continue the popular policies of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, her mentor from the left-leaning Workers Party and Brazil's outgoing president.
"After this great man, Brazil will be governed by a woman, a woman who will continue the Brazil of Lula," Rousseff said in June when Lula's ruling Workers Party officially launched her candidacy.
Known for her brusque political style, Rousseff has a reputation for publicly dressing down ministers, although she has recently attempted to soften her image.
'Strong woman'
"She's an extremely strong woman on one hand, whose posts normally in Brazil were identified with men, not women. Little by little she is working on showing other characteristics to be 'introduced' to different voters," Maria do Socorro Sousa Braga, a political analyst at the University of Sao Paulo, said.
Some changes to her image include replacing stern glasses with contact lenses, undergoing plastic surgery and adopting a more glamorous hairstyle.
Rousseff came to national prominence in 2005, when she was working as Brazil's energy minister.
A financing scandal hit the Workers Party, prompting several leading officials to resign and she became chief of the cabinet.
By 2007, Lula was promoting Rousseff as the "mother" of his government's plan to accelerate economic growth by investing massively in infrastructure projects.
The decision paid off, as Brazil has experienced sustained growth.
Though she does not share Lula's personal charisma, his support seems to have been enough to win over voters, especially poorer ones who have benefited from eight years of anti-poverty programmes instituted by Lula's government.
Early years
Rousseff was born in December 1947 in the southwestern state of Minas Gerais to a Bulgarian immigrant father and a Brazilian mother.
After becoming an active militant in an underground group seeking to overturn the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, she was arrested in January 1970 and sentenced to six years in prison.
After nearly three years behind bars, where she was tortured, she was released, at the end of 1972.
In 1980 she became involved in a leftist populist party, the Democratic Workers Party, but left them in 1986 to join the Workers Party.
Married twice, Rousseff has one daughter, Paula, and became a grandmother in September.
Last year, Rousseff admitted she was undergoing treatment for lymphatic cancer, which generated public sympathy. Her doctors said they believe she is now cured.
If elected, she will be tasked with preparing Brazil for major events, including the World Cup and the Olympics, which will require heavy infrastructure investment.
Abroad, a president Dilma will be seen as likely to continue Lula's diplomatic strategy of being friendly with all nations, including South American neighbours such as Venezuela and Bolivia, both of which take anti-US line.
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